Guardians of Rota
by HCHawke
Summary: Thousands of years ago, Sir Aaron ended the war that threatened to engulf the Kingdom of Rota. Now, eighteen years later, follow the exploits of his sons, Ash and Riley, and their friends as they travel the Pokémon world in the time of Aura, before Pokéballs and modern technology. AdvanceShipping(AshXMay), ShowOffShipping(DawnXMax), DescentShipping(RileyXIlene), Others with time.
1. Cost of War

_Alright, Welcome to my first Pokémon FanFic! Being a huge Pokégeek, I finally decided to try my hand at it when the idea hit me one night. This will be a tale of the adventures of a pair of Aura Guardians and their friends, hopefully filled with action, adventure, friendship, and possibly a ship or two! As this is my first Fic, Reviews and Comments are greatly appreciated. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, setting, ect. Just one OC to be added in later.  
_

_'Thoughts'_

_"Telepathy"_

"Speaking"

* * *

**Chapter One**

The Kingdom of Rota. A once peaceful kingdom of the Pokémon World, now the latest battlefield in the massive war engulfing the lands of Kanto, Johto, and Unova. The Unovans were a warlike group from across the seas to the east, made up of various small tribes of warriors. When the Unovans learned of the Kanto and Johto regions across the seas, they began a brutal invasion, decimating most of Kanto in their push inland. By the time they made it beyond Mt. Moon, the Johteans had finally mobilized a defense, moving north from Mt. Silver to engage the invading armies. Unfortunately, this put the peaceful Kingdom of Rota directly in the middle of the two rival armies. While Rota was far from defenseless, the bulk of the Unovan hoard and the Indigo League armies outnumbered the small standing army Rota could field, even with their legendary Aura Guardians.

'_Must find Sir Aaron...' _was the singular thought running the mind of one of those very same Aura Guardians as he ran through the foggy mountains near the Tree of Beginning, the massive rock formation that dominated Rota, desperately searching for the crystals that were indigenous to the area. He was much shorter than most people assumed of an Aura Guardian, barely four feet tall, covered in black and blue fur on his limbs with a cream-colored torso. Protruding from the back of his hands and his chest were silver spikes, and his head was decidedly jackal-like, with a pair of large ears, red eyes, and four small appendages hanging from the back of his head. His powerful legs carried him across the rough terrain as the sounds of impending battle echoed through the canyons and cliffs, occasionally leaping from rock to rock.

Turning back down the path he came from, he closed his eyes and began focusing, the appendages on his head beginning to rise slightly.

'_Aura is with me,'_ he thought as his vision was replaced with a rather ghostly landscape, focusing his Aura to the west, moving through canyons and hills, eventually coming to overlook a massive valley filled with humans and Pokémon of every shape, from Charizard to Steelix, Aggron to Skarmory. The Johtean Army.

Grunting, he opened his eyes to scan his surroundings quickly before focusing to the east with his Aura. On the far side of the mountain marched Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Onix, Tyranitar, Blastoise, and countless other types of Pokémon, along with their human allies. Seeing that both armies were nearly within fighting distance, he growled slightly as he returned to his body.

Just as he was about to continue his journey, he heard something on the wing flying towards him. Glancing up to scan the foggy skies, he spotted the silhouette of a massive red and white Flying-Type Pokémon fly over his head, above the cliffs towards the Tree of Beginning. Before he could even think about what it meant, however, a large hound-like Pokémon bounded down the same cliff at him, causing him to backflip away. Pale horns on his head standing out from his black body and red armor.

'_Houndoom. Wonderful...' _he thought as he turned tail and continued climbing the rough territory, sensing as the Houndoom gave chase along with a second and third at his back. Climbing to the top of the small mesa, he finally spotted what he was searching for, a small collection of blue crystals protruding from the ground. Skidding to a stop in front of them, he knelt down and placed his paw on the surface of the crystal, causing it to begin lightly glowing blue.

"_Hear me, Sir Aaron…"_

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Cameran Palace, the Capital of Rota, it's beautiful leader, Queen Rin stared out into the foggy forests between the Palace and the Tree of Beginning from one of the balconies. Her otherwise noble features were marred with worry, nervous of the impending conflict in Rota. Long golden hair fell to nearly her knees, and her light blue and white dress complimented it perfectly. To her right, standing half a head taller than her was one of her oldest companions, Sir Aaron Arlon, head of the Aura Guardians of Rota. Dressed in his typical garb, a simple pair of dark grey pants and shirt, his long blue vest, dark blue cloak and signature hat, he was a handsome figure, sporting his perpetually messy dark blue hair and sapphire eyes. He and his wife Delia had been friends of Queen Rin and her husband, King Able, since the were all children. And while King Able led the Rotan army to defend the city, Aaron was placed in charge of security for the palace.

Left with only a token force of guards and a few Aura Guardians, Aaron was just as worried as Rin was, staring out into the veil of fog and mist that held over the valley between Cameran Palace and the Tree of Beginning.

'_Where is Lucario?'_ he thought to himself. He had sent his apprentice into the mountains to scout hours ago, and was growing more worried by the moment. '_I taught him everything I could, so why hasn't he sent word yet?'_

As if on cue, he heard a light tone behind him, causing him to turn. Spotting the light glow from the crystal formation on the balcony, he hurried over towards it, staff in hand, causing his Queen to turn and watch as he did so. Kneeling and placing his hand upon the formation, he was able to sense Lucario, roughly halfway up the mountain.

"_Sir Aaron, please…" _he heard in his mind.

"What's the matter, Lucario?" he asked aloud in a worried tone.

"_The two armies are about to clash, master, and our Kingdom is caught between them! Once the fighting starts, we will all be destroyed!'_

Hearing this caused Rin to turn back towards the mountain, a look of despair taking hold. "When the armies reach this palace, our Kingdom will fall…"

* * *

Hearing growls behind him, Lucario flipped away from the crystal to see the three Houndoom leap onto the mesa, glaring at him with their dark red eyes. Darting forward between them, Lucario managed to barely dodge a Flamethrower attack from one before charging back towards the edge he came up from, leaping off.

Dodging another Flamethrower as he landed, he tried to climb the opposite cliff wall, hoping to gain some ground. Unfortunately, one of the Houndoom saw this and attacked the cliff he was clinging to with an Iron Tail attack, blasting part of the cliff apart with explosive force. Dust and debris were hurled into his eyes as a result, causing him to flip away and attempt to clean his eyes, to no avail. Hearing another growl, he leap up, barely missing another Flamethrower that tore through the space he just inhabited.

Landing on his feet uneasily, he utilized his Aura abilities and saw all three Houndoom in front of him, cornering him into the box canyon, each growling and preparing a Flamethrower. Time seemed to slow as his ingrained instincts and training kicked in, leaping high into the air as the attacks hit. As he fell, he prepared attacks of his own, a pair of blue Aura spheres, one in each hand. He landed between two of the Dark and Fire types, unleashing one into each of their heads, before raising his arms above his own head and forming a third sphere, firing it at the ground in front of the third one. As he sensed the final Houndoom fall, the appendages on the back of his head returned to their normal place of hanging.

* * *

"I will not flee the palace when the armies attack. My fate will be the same as the rest of my kingdom," she said simply, causing mild annoyance in her companion.

Aaron's mind raced, thinking of how he could convince Rin to leave. "But your highness, there will be no survivors…" Even as he said it, he hung his head, realizing it would be futile. He had known Rin for the past twenty years, and he knew she would sooner die than abandon her people. She was very much like her father in that respect. Aaron had no desire to abandon his people either, but he realized that this war would likely be the end of Rota. He thought of the countless people he had protected in the Kingdom over the years.

He thought of Rin and Able's new daughter, Ilene. He thought of his family. His pregnant wife Delia, his son Riley, and his coming child. '_The only thing that can save us now is a miracle… Wait, that's it!' _he thought.

Glancing back to the sky for a moment, he scanned the fog. "Hmm." Raising his staff into the air, a cry from a giant tan bird, a Pidgeot, was heard as the massive bird swooped by the balcony. And Queen Rin watched in shock as her bodyguard lept off the balcony onto the bird's back and began heading away from the palace towards the Tree of Beginning. '_He can't be abandoning us...' _she thought in disbelief.

As Pidgeot raced over the forests of Rota, Aaron's mind raced. '_Delia, Riley. Please forgive me. What I go to do, I do for you...' _Sparing a glance down to his right, he saw the majority of the Johtean army, armored in red, marching around the base of the mountain to their right, and the forest to their left. To his left, he saw another army, the Unovan horde, barely making out their pale green armor in the fog.

But what alarmed him were the three Skarmory breaking off towards Pidgeot and himself. Aaron could simply hold on for dear life as the three tore by, Pidgeot expertly dodging them as he continued on towards his goal, the Tree of Beginning. Unfortunately, this meant it's attention was elsewhere, allowing one of the Unovan Skarmory to fire off a powerful Flash Cannon attack at the Pokémon's back, nearly hurling Sir Aaron off it's back in the process.

Pidgeot managed to regain control briefly, returning to his original course, but the Skarmory weren't finished yet, not wishing to have any Rotans or Johteans retreat from their conquest. Coming in quickly with a strong Steel Wing attack, Pidgeot was struck hard and was sent plummeting towards the rough mountain side. It struggled to regain control as it rapidly approached the ground.

Aaron briefly wondered if his quest to save Rota would be cut short, if Rota was destined to fall in this unwanted conflict. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he focused on the mountainside, as Pidgeot managed to give a final burst of energy to stave off a direct crash.

Leaping off, the Aura Guardian decided he was close enough, hoping that the decreased weight would allow Pidgeot to land safely. Pidgeot, however, continued it's unsteady course directly into series of bushes nearby with a cry. Aaron stood and was about to continue on his way when he felt a familiar Aura approaching quickly.

Sprinting up the mountainside at breakneck speeds was his near constant companion and apprentice, Lucario.

"_Sir Aaron!" _he heard in his mind, realizing Lucario was close enough to use Telepathy. "_I knew you'd come!" _he said as he reached the bottom of the mesa Aaron was standing on.

What bothered the human, however, was the fact that Lucario had yet to open his eyes since arriving, appearing to only be using his Aura to navigate. "Lucario, what happened to your eyes?" he asked the blue jackal.

"_Don't worry about me, Master,"_ was his only response. The final word though, master, had struck a nerve with Aaron, causing him to turn away.

"Don't call me that. I'm no longer your master. I have abandoned the Queen and the Kingdom. I'll never return…"

Lucario froze in disbelief, shock pinning him in place. "_But… That's impossible…"_

Aaron took off running, towards his original goal; The Tree of Beginning. Lucario finally managed to regain his motor skills and took off after his companion and master.

"_Master, wait!" _he called as he ran up the slopes after him. He didn't even feel his foot graze the Time Flower on the slopes as he ran.

Hearing Lucario following him, Aaron turned and hurled his staff into the ground, landing just in front of the Pokémon causing him to stop. Suddenly the staff began to glow bright blue and white. Clenching his teeth, Lucario stared up, eyes still closed at the other Aura Guardian.

"_Sir Aaron!" _he cried out. The staff continued to glow brighter as a blue beam shot into the Pokémon's chest, causing him to also turn the color and begins to fade from sight. He felt as he was drawn into the fist-sized crystal at the top of the staff, his vision shifting as the fractal shape of the crystal began distorting it. He was pulled further away from the surface. "_Why, master?! Why…?"_

* * *

Rin stared out from the ramparts of Cameran Palace towards the faint outline of the Tree, feeling as if her whole world were falling apart. On the wind, she heard a strange note begin to pick up, a low, mournful wail barely on the edge of hearing.

"That wail. It's coming from the Tree of Beginning… It's crying," she realized. The fog began to break, and in the massive valley between the Palace and the Tree of Beginning, she saw the two armies break upon each other.

'_Why did he leave us?' _she thought to herself. '_Did he truly abandon everything he's ever known due to fear?' _

Hearing the cry of a Pidgeot, her heart leapt as she scanned the skies, hoping that Aaron had returned. As the massive Bird Pokémon landed upon the railing of the balcony, Rin's heart fell again as she noticed two things; The lack of Aaron upon Pidgeot's back, and his staff being held in Pidgeot's beak.

'_He's had this for years...' _she thought, glancing sadly at the short staff.

Roughly two-thirds her height, it consisted of a wooden shaft, a series of black steel rings, one circular that expanded from the shaft, and a large half-sphere that connected around the top of the first ring, similar to an equator. In the center of this was a large crystal from the Tree of Beginning, expertly cut into a twenty-six sided rhombicuboctahedron. Completing the design were a pair of large, teardrop shaped weights where the two rings connected, reminiscent of the appendages on Lucario's head.

She remembered when he built it, years back when he still dreamed of completing his Aura Guardian training. He was so excited when he showed her and Able the crystal that Delia had cut for him. Back when the four of them were all just friends. Back before he found Lucario, still a young Riolu.

Taking the staff from Pidgeot, he returned to the skies as quick as he came, leaving Rin with the staff and her thoughts. She saw her reflection in the light blue crystal surface, and questions with no answers appeared. "Aaron…"

Just as she was about to give up hope and resign herself and her kingdom to it's fate, she took one last look at the Tree of Beginning. And right before she accepted that all was lost, the Tree of Beginning lit up with a strange bluish-green light. As the Tree continued to glow, the crystal formations began spouting the same green light into the air in powerful shafts, burning away the fog. She looked around rapidly in wonderment as the crystals that the palace was built around began to glow and release shafts of light.

'_Could this be what Aaron went to do?' _she thought to herself. '_Maybe he didn't abandon us after all...' _

As the light continued to grow, a massive green energy pulse worked it's way from the Tree of Beginning, covering the valley in waves of green energy.

Below, the entire battlefield froze, looking up at the shining peak. Silence spread across the land, from the peak to Cameran Palace. Humans and Pokémon alike stood in awe as the morning fog melted away from the valley and forests.

'_He did it,' _she thought to herself as she felt her eyes grow misty. '_He really did it. He saved us.' _

As tears began to fall, she realized that Sir Aaron had gone to the Tree of Beginning to ask Mew to help her kingdom and people. She looked down on the field, and saw that the battle was over, with people and Pokémon alike laying down their arms. And she silently hoped that her friend had managed to survive to see the miracle he'd brought his country.

* * *

Delia days were normally quiet, taking care of Riley and seeing to her own well being and the well being of her unborn child, and hoping that the rumored war wouldn't come to pass.

This morning, however, she awoke to a strange green light, burning away the early morning fog. And in her gut, she felt two things. The first feeling was one of terror, rapidly searching her house for her husband and fearing the worst. The second feeling, which soon overcame the first, was due to two things. The first was a fragment of the dream she had while she was asleep.

'_Delia, Riley. Please forgive me. What I go to do, I do for you...' _She couldn't recall why she heard that, but hearing it gave her a sense of… She couldn't quite describe it. She felt both loved and numb. She slowly came to terms in her heart, that Aaron was gone. She didn't know how she knew, she just… knew.

And her fragile peace, this calm in the eye of the storm lasted until little three-year old Riley woke up.

"Where is papa, mama?" he asked innocently. Delia did her best to stave off the tears that threatened to break free.

"Your father had to leave, Riley," she stated with every last bit of her strength.

"Why?" And with that one word, one word from a heartbroken little three-year old, that last bit of strength shattered.

* * *

_So, rather sad, (And more or less a direct written version of the first eight minutes of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew), but it'll pick up a bit. Next chapter is eighteen years later, and the start of Ash and Riley's adventures. So, Review, Comment, and thank you for reading the past eight or so hours of my time!_


	2. The Next Generation

_Evening all, managed to get another chapter up, proof read, and ready for posting! Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon, setting, ect._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

As the morning sun rose above Rota, slowly burning away any remaining fog from the area, the solitude of the mountains and the peaceful chirping of Flying-Type Pokémon was interrupted by a pair of young teenagers racing through the Rotan forests towards a small hill overlooking the lake that encircled Cameran Palace.

Both were about eighteen, one slightly taller than the other. The current leader in their little race was the taller of the two, a boy with spiky brown hair who was closely followed by a quick brown fox-like Pokémon at his heels.

The shorter boy trailed behind slightly, messy black hair whipping wildly in the face of his own Pokémon, a large yellow mouse-like creature clinging to his shoulder.

As the two barreled through the forest, disturbing plants and Pokémon alike, one could easily tell of the rivalry the two possessed. As they started to reach the top of the hill, however, the black haired teen put everything he had into his sprint, managing to finally outpace the brunette.

In his excitement at finally beating his longtime rival to the top of their usual hill, he failed to plan out one thing; stopping.

Auburn eyes widened in panic as he realized he was on a collision course for a tree. As he charged on, trying to slow himself down, his yellow passenger realized their course as well and hopped off, landing lightly on the grassy hill the boys had always enjoyed going to.

The Pokémon's partner, however, had somehow managed to hit the tree so hard he ended up hugging it, the imprint of the bark embedded in his face as he slowly slid down the tree, mumbling incoherently on how he 'won'.

Chuckling as he leisurely made his way to the top of the hill, the brunette knelt down beside his longtime friend and rival, offering a hand up.

"Well, Ashy-boy, ya finally beat me. How's it feel?" he asked his friend smugly.

Ash shook his head as he took the hand, attempting to dispel the small Pidgey that were dancing around his skull, before composing himself with his signature grin and answering. "Hey, I've beaten you before. Besides, with you studying all those books your grandfather has, it's a miracle you're out here at all."

Ash Arlon, younger son of the 'True Guardian of Aura' Sir Aaron Arlon, along with his best friend Gary Oak, grandson of the famous scholar Samuel Oak, were both Aura Guardian Trainees of Rota, having been since they both turned eight. And because of their diligence to their studies, along with their strong rivalry, they were two of the top trainees in Rota at the moment.

Soon they would both be put to their final trials, and should they succeed, they'd be granted the title of Aura Guardian, along with being made Knights of Rota. Of course, no one had said this feat would be easy.

Both trainees had been pushing themselves to their limits for weeks now. While a run to their favorite hill was a fairly common occurrence between the two, getting up this early to do so was nearly unheard of for them, either because of Ash's love of staying up late and sleeping in, or due to Gary's love of reading and knowledge, keeping him holed in his grandfather's library most days. And by their sides as always were their partners, Pikachu and Eevee.

Upon the start of their third year of training, they were granted a Pokémon partner of their own, just as other Aura Guardians had before them. Gary received an Eevee, a small fox-like Normal-Type with chocolate-brown fur, a creme-colored mane, large ears and fluffy tail.

Ash received a Pikachu, a short, chubby Electric-Type rodent with yellow fur, large pointed ears, red cheeks capable of storing electricity, and a tail in the rough shape of a lightning bolt. Since that day, the trainees and their respective Pokémon partners never left each others sides. Between training, lessons, eating, or even their typical competitions like this, Eevee and Pikachu were always with their partners, encouraging them to continue to be faster and stronger.

"Come on Gary, we've only got another week before the Trials, and I want to enjoy it," Ash stated. "Too much studying and practice will leave us too burnt out when the time comes!"

Seeing nothing wrong with his logic, provided it was just a day break, Gary decided to agree with Ash. They had all spent many long hours training in the past month. Of course, while Ash didn't have a grandfather watching his progress like Gary did, he had something worse; An older sibling.

At the age of twenty-one, Riley Arlon, Ash's older brother, was an imposing individual, partially due to his legacy, partially due to his training style, and partially because he had managed to finish his training at the relatively young age of sixteen. Ash had grown up mostly in his older brother's shadow, and while he loved his brother, he was happy to just be regular old average Ash.

"Alright, I supposed ONE day won't give them cause to flunk us back down to Initiates," he finally relented, inciting cheers of "Pika" and "Vee" from their partners and a fist pump from Ash.

Sitting down against the tree he so recently had run headlong into, Ash made himself comfortable, still catching his breath from their run from Cameran Palace to the hill. Pikachu made his way into the lap of his partner before lying down for a short nap.

Gary laid down on the grass nearby and began staring up at the sky with a grin on his face, his Eevee making his way onto the the brunette's stomach to also nap like his electric counterpart.

As he enjoyed the quiet with his friends, Ash's mind began to wander, thinking back on all the lessons he learned since becoming a Guardian, the stories of great battles in the past he'd heard about from their friend Aer, stories of his father that his mother told him when he was young.

It saddened him that his father died before he was born, but he knew he gave his life for the kingdom he served and the family he loved. Ash had joined the Aura Guardians upon his eighth birthday, following in the footsteps of his father and brother.

While Delia had been worried about both her sons becoming Guardians, she realized that they were honoring his legacy in their own way. So she was as supportive as possible, making sure they were well prepared for their tasks.

"Hey Ash, what do ya think the trials will involve?" Gary asked after a while, turning his head slightly to watch his friend. "Did Riley ever mention what they were, exactly?"

Ash thought for a moment. "He said they were really harsh, but other than that he never really mentioned them. Only told me 'you'll see'," he finished as he scratched Pikachu in one of the three places he loved, between his ears, causing the small yellow Pokémon to coo softly in his sleep.

Gary nodded slightly. "According to one of Gramps' old books, Trainees are tested by full Guardians on missions. Of course, the book was decades old, so there's no telling if the order still practices that."

Ash smiled lightly. "Well, we'll know soon enough. With any luck, by this time next week we'll be fully fledged Aura Guardians!"

Gary smiled at his friend and nodded. "Arceus willing… Come on, let's get a swim in before practice," he said as he pushed himself upright and took off down the hill, causing Eevee to suddenly fall off his lap, shooting the back of the brunette's head a death glare as he went to catch up.

Ash struggled to his feet, cradling Pikachu in his arms as to not drop his partner, knowing full well the strength of an angered Pikachu. "Wait up, Gary, I wasn't ready!"

* * *

'_Left jab, block high, right uppercut, block mid, snap kick right, dodge back.' _

Inside the training fields of Cameran Palace, two combatants fought against each other using only their bare hands and feet, Aura, and instinct. The taller of the two had messy dark blue hair in a similar style of his younger brother, a solid build, and wore a uniform very reminiscent of his father, minus the boots, gloves, and hat at the moment.

Riley Arlon, Aura Guardian and Knight of Rota. And while he was taller and had a good thirty pounds on his sparring partner, no one else in Rota had any intention of going toe to paw with his sparring partner.

His opponent was shorter than him by a good two heads, but what he lacked in height, he made up for it in speed and strength. Blue fur covered most of his arms, thighs, and tail, while shorter black fur covered his lower legs and front paws. Longer, creme-colored fur protected his torso. The spikes protruding from the back of his front paws and his chest, along with his red eyes and jackal-like head added to his intimidating nature.

Not many people would willingly spar with a Pokémon, led alone a Fighting/Steel Type, but Lucario and Riley had been doing so for years, ever since Lucario began Riley's formal training in an attempt to complete his own.

* * *

_(Flashback, Thirteen Years Ago)_

_It was five years after the end of the Unovan Blitz, and Delia was still trying to come to terms with her son's request. _

_'I want to be an Aura Guardian, like papa!' _

_Riley's eighth birthday had come, and all he had wanted this year was to follow in his father's footsteps. While Delia loved her son dearly, the motherly part of her wanted to prevent her son from following the path that took her husband from her. She wanted so desperately to protect him. But his mind was made up, so she told him to give her time to think about it._

_Sitting alone in her bedroom, she began thinking about her son's request, allowing her mind to wander. She knew in her heart that she shouldn't be selfish, she should encourage her son to be whatever he wanted to be. But with the wounds still fresh, she wondered if she could be okay with her son joining the same order Aaron did, putting himself in danger for others. While noble, the very thought of it also terrified her. And with the both him and Ash looking more and more like Aaron by the day, her heart just couldn't take history repeating itself._

_She glanced around her room, the same one she shared with her husband before the war. After Aaron's… departure, Queen Rin had requested that Delia help take care of Ilene. Like Delia, Queen Rin also lost her husband in the war, with Able having been killed in the early fighting, so she knew Delia needed something to do to keep her mind off seeing as they had both been friends in the years before, it just seemed natural that they and their children were raised in the same place, Cameran Palace._

_Her eyes began to wander the room, remembering memories from years before. Eventually her eyes fell upon the small trunk she kept in her room, she felt a faint smile begin tugging at her lips as she closed her eyes. _

_'Aaron's things… I haven't looked in that chest since I packed it. Maybe… Maybe looking through his things will help me decide,' she thought to herself._

_Slowly she got up off her bed and walked to the chest, kneeling down and grasped the lid. She sat there for a minute or two as she gathered the strength to look into her past. And as she opened the chest, she felt all the memories come rushing back to her._

_'His hat...' _

_She remembered him getting the wide brimmed, dark blue hat for his sixteenth birthday, and how he wore the thing everywhere. During runs, when he swam, even to bed if the stories his parents told Delia were true. She had even made a custom band that went around the top portion of the hat for him, primarily blue with a small yellow sphere and crescent design on the front, much to his delight._

_'His cloak...' _

_She remembered him begging her to patch up his favorite dark blue cloak more times that she could count back when they were teenagers. No matter how much she tried to worm her way out of having to fix her friend's cloak, he always somehow managed to get her to fix it for him with that smile of his._

_'His staff...' _

_Aaron's graduation ceremony was nearly eleven years ago, and she remembered massive grin the eighteen year old had on his face the whole day. She had stayed up for nights working on the crystal, finding the right piece to work with, cutting it specifically in the style she pictured, having the staff head forged with the design of the crystal in mind, the little elongated teardrops she had made for the sides at the last minute. _

_She remembered finally managing to talk Lucario into leaving Aaron's side for a while so she could present it to her longtime friend and crush the night of his graduation, the night they formally began dating._

_Her smile continued to grow as she continued her trip down memory lane, and she began to feel a strange peace overtake her. She had fallen in love with Aaron because of his determination and desire to help people. With that in mind, denying Riley the same would be a dishonor to Aaron's memory. _

_'This staff was made to help people. Not be locked in a trunk,' she thought to herself as she picked it up, keeping it behind her back as she headed back to her bedroom door._

_Little Riley looked up after what seemed like hours as his mother's door opened, revealing a stern-looking woman with auburn hair and eyes. _

_She had her hands behind her back and Riley's first thought was 'Oh boy, now I'm going to get yelled at...' _

_But when she brought around from her back a large staff that he vaguely remember his father having around before he died, his face turned to a cautious smile. _

_Kneeling down to look him in the eye, she gave Riley a sad smile and nod, handing him the staff of his father. She was about to give him a large speech on how he would do his father proud, how she was proud of him, how this was a massive undertaking. But as soon as Riley grasped the staff, the small living room they stood in began glowing bright blue._

_(End Flashback)_

* * *

Riley's training had begun that day. Lucario was freed from his prison thirteen years ago.

He remembered trying to follow his master and how he thought Aaron deserted the kingdom when he trapped Lucario in his staff to prevent his friend from following him to his doom. It was only after Lady Delia explained what happened during the war did Lucario calm down.

While he was saddened to hear of his master's actions, he understood them, and decided the best way to honor his master was to help his son, Riley, achieve his dream.

And being that Lucario was also an Aura Guardian Trainee, the Order decided to pair the two during their training. Thirteen years later, the two were something of a legend among the Order since graduating to full Guardians five years back, both representing the legacy of Sir Aaron Arlon.

'_Block low, jump above leg sweep, counter with right hook, block left, right kick.' _

The two continued their dance of attack, block, counter attack for a good twenty minutes before they both began to tire, and decided to break for the moment. Leaning over to catch his breath, he grinned as Lucario walked up to him with a towel.

"_You're getting faster, Master. I'm having to rely more on Aura to anticipate you,"_ he spoke telepathically, clearly pleased with Riley's progress.

Taking the towel, he wiped his head down from the sweat. "I guess the years of us sparring are finally paying off, huh?"

Lucario smirked and nodded. "_You're a dangerous opponent, to be sure." _

He was about to continue when he heard clapping, turning his attention to the young blonde woman in a pink dress walking across the training field. "An excellent showing as always, Riley, Lucario."

With a pleasant smile, Princess Ilene came to stand in front of the duo. "I apologize for watching your training. My mother asked me to find you, and… Well, whenever I see you two sparring, it's just such beautifully choreographed show. Like a dance, so I, uh… didn't want to interrupt," she finished, turning slightly pink, smiling sheepishly.

Lucario smirked and Riley chuckled lightly. "Except in dancing, if you miss a step someone steps on your toe. In sparring, if you miss a step you get a broken nose. So, what does Queen Rin require of us?"

Having grown up alongside the Princess, he was one of the few people who could easily speak to her as an equal. Most other people in the Kingdom just knew of the regal Princess Ilene and her Aura Guardian Sir Riley. Very few ever saw them arguing about toys, or who won their latest bet growing up, or laughing over what one of their friends did. They both lost their fathers during during the war, and growing up together meant that titles weren't really considered much, being their mothers had been such good friends for years.

Still smiling, although her face had returned to it's normal color, Ilene continued.

"She'd like to speak with you both later today. Representatives from the Western Kingdom of Sinnoh arrived earlier, so I can only assume it has something to do with them."

Riley and Lucario both nodded. "Alright, we'll be up to the Throne room after I grab a bath. Can't exactly greet dignitaries when I smell like a Grimer, can I?" Riley asked with a smirk, inciting a light giggle from Ilene and an eyeroll and smirk from Lucario.

"_I'll see to it that Master Riley arrives within the appointed hour, Mistress Ilene," _Lucario explained. Nodding and giving a final smile, Princess Ilene turned to head back into the palace. "I'll inform her highness."

Lucario had to poke Riley to pull him back from whatever dream world he had placed himself in after speaking with Ilene. While Lucario didn't completely understand the human concept of 'love', he recognized the fact that Riley was acting the exact same way as Sir Aaron used to when he realized he enjoyed being with Lady Delia.

Smirking at his partner sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, Lucario realized he'd have to inform Lady Delia of this development, sure she'd be happy with the news. Briefly though, both he and Riley wondered curiously at their guests from Sinnoh. And wondered why the Northern Kingdoms wanted to meet with Rota.

* * *

_Alright, second chapter up, hopefully you all enjoyed it and my use of a flashback didn't cause any issues with understanding it all. Feedback is encourage, as are suggestions. I greatly appreciate all the encouragement you guys have given this Fic N00b. Next chapter should be up in the next few days. Until then, have a great evening.  
_


	3. No one expects the Sinnish Inquisition!

_Evening lads and lasses. Managing to really pump these chapters out quickly, though I can't promise they'll continue at this speed. I do have a few questions for you all, but I'll leave that till after the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, setting, ect. So, without further wait, Read on!  
_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The room in Cameran Palace that the two Sinnish travelers were given for their stay was quite spacious, especially compared to some of the Inns they had stayed at during their journey from Sinnoh. Two large bedrooms, a central living area, small kitchen area should they wish to prepare their own food in between the regular castle eating times, and a view that left at least one of the travelers breathless. Her traveling companion and teacher Lucian was seeing to the preparations for the upcoming negotiations with Rota and the Aura Guardians, which left his young companion and ward, Dawn Berlitz, to her own devices until he returned.

The blue-haired Sinnish teen stood on the balcony of their room connecting to the living area alongside her Pokémon, just gazing out at the amazing forests and mountains of Rota. '_This reminds me of the view from Mount Coronet overlooking Eterna Forest, back in West Sinnoh' _she thought to herself with a soft smile. Her gaze held at the massive tree poking out from the top of the jagged mountain in the distance. '_I think our guide called it the Tree of Beginning.' _Supposedly, despite it's appearance of a giant tree, it was actually a unique rock formation, and if the legends were true, home to several rare and powerful Pokémon.

"I wonder what sort of Pokémon live there, Piplup," she said to her ever-present companion and starter, Piplup, a small blue penguin-like Water Type who was sitting on the rail next to her. "Piplup." He nodded in agreement. As they continued to simply marvel at the view afforded by their room, a strong gust of wind began to blow by, causing the teen's dark blue hair (I just realized the amount of Blunettes I have in this story…) to fly out of its otherwise perfect position. Now, while this wouldn't have phased most people, Dawn Berlitz wasn't like most people.

"Big need to worry!" she cried, trying to get her beautiful blue hair back into perfect order, only to hear Piplup begin chuckling at her, quickly annoying the young Pokémon tactician. "Don't start with me, Piplup. A girl's hair is her life!" she shouted to the still laughing Pokémon.

* * *

"Alright, we'll meet after the evening's dinner to discuss your proposal. By then, the Aura Guardians should be ready to meet with you" Queen Rin finished with a polite nod of her head. "Excellent, I look forward to this evening, your Highness" replied a smart looking man wearing a dark red shirt and trousers, with a well-cut black vest over his shirt. A pair of glasses and sturdy Sinnish boots completed his outfit, giving him the appearance of nobility from the Sinnoh Region. His purple hair was cut at shoulder length and fell in waves around his neck. At his side was a yellow and brown humanoid-shaped Pokémon with a skeletal appearance, large mustache, large head, and a spoon in each hand. Lucian and his Alakazam, Sinnoh's tactical geniuses.

While Rota was famous for their Aura Guardians, peerless warriors capable of wielding the abilities of Aura, Sinnoh was famous for their tacticians, trainers capable of using advance strategies in single battles or in massive wars. Able to succeed with weaker Pokémon by using clever traps and combinations, Pokémon Tacticians were dangerous opponents to go against. And Lucian was well known even as far out as Rota, his reputation as a master tactician preceding him.

As he and his companion bowed and prepared to leave, Queen Rin spoke up. "Feel free to explore the palace during your time here. The gardens are particularly relaxing this time of year." Answering with a gracious smile, Lucian and Alakazam thanked her again for her hospitality before heading back towards their room.

"_You're putting much on your assumption that these Aura Guardians will help us in our request. What if they decline?" _Alakazam asked his friend telepathically as he hovered alongside him down the hall. Sighing, Lucian answered, "If they don't, then we'll have to make an appeal with the Eastern Kingdom again, and should that fail… I'm not sure yet. But we cannot touch Cyrus and his people while they remain in Eastern Sinnoh." '_Not without it coming to war, at least' _he finished privately to himself. Sighing again and rubbing his head, he and Alakazam had made it to the hall where their suite was located. And as he drew closer to said suite, he began hearing sounds of… something. '_Probably knights training, or the cook complaining about something,' _he thought to himself, dismissing it.

When he finally opened the door, however, what greeted him and Alakazam was an increasingly familiar sight as of late. His prized pupil, Dawn Berlitz, chasing her Piplup with what appeared to be intent to strangle him while he fired an occasional bubble beam behind him towards her head. Her normally perfect hair was dripping wet, likely from her Piplup's water attacks.

"When I get my hands on you, Piplup, I'll show you the true meaning of hair damage! I'll- Oh, you did NOT just stick your tongue out at me!" cried the borderline hysterical teen, trying desperately to avenge her hair.

As the two continued to run around the room like a pair of small children, Lucian sweatdropped and silently exited again, closing the door, the rooms occupants continuing to shout at each other, oblivious to his entrance or exit.

He finally turned to his companion after a moment of processing what just happened from the hallway. "So… she said the gardens are relaxing?" he finally said with a small, amused grin.

* * *

After a long day of swimming, running, and occasional bickering, Ash and Gary, along with their respective partners Pikachu and Eevee had finally made it back to town.

"Come on, Ashy-boy, we have to hit the shop before they close. I want to see if that book came in yet" Gary stated as the four of them wove their way through the bustling marketplace of Rota City. "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming…." While Ash wasn't much of a reader, he knew Gary practically lived in his grandfather's library on days without training. '_If this Aura Guardian thing didn't work out, he could always help his grandfather out with his research' _the black-haired teen thought to himself.

As the two entered the small shop, Gary went off to speak with the shop owner while Ash and Pikachu began browsing around aimlessly. "Look Pikachu, looks like they got a new shipment of evolutionary stones from Hoenn" he said, pointing to the display. "Wasn't Aer looking for a thunder stone for his Eevee?" he asked his companion.

"Pika, pikapi." Pikachu confirmed. "Still sure you don't want one too, buddy?" Receiving another nod from his starter, he grabbed a single light blue stone, marked with a yellow lightning bolt in the center as he went back to browsing. '_Alright, that'll make Aer happy, maybe I can find something for mom, Riley, and Misty too.' _

By the end of his trip, he'd found some Tamato berries which his mother could turn into a sauce that Pikachu went Primeape for, some more dark blue fabric for Riley to use in patching his cloak, some Pokémon food for Pidgeot and Pikachu, some new fishing lures for Misty, and a new recipe book for his mother. When he and Pikachu finally went to pay for their stuff, they noticed Gary was still at the counter, nose buried in his latest book. '_Migrational patterns of Flying type Pokémon indigenous to the Kalos Region… My head hurts just reading the title. How Gary isn't asleep from reading that, I'll never understand.'_

Ash placed his haul on the counter for the owner of the shop to ring up, and as he did so, as if on cue, he heard a distinct snore come from his brunette friend. He and the Pokémon started to laugh at this. "Hey Gary, there are better spots to sleep!" he stated, causing the brunette to snap back to reality. "Uh, Kalosian!" he shouted as he glanced around quickly before blinking at Ash. "I, uh, I mean I was just meditating. On the new knowledge I learned that you'd never understand. About… Kalosian Flying type Pokémon. Yeah, that's it" he finished, nodding to himself, only causing Pikachu, Eevee, and Ash to laugh more at him.

"Whatever you say, _Scholar _Oak…" Ash replied with a snicker. Paying the owner for his things, the two made their way out of the shop and began heading towards the bridge to Cameran Palace. "So, I assume you're going to go board yourself up in your room with that new book?" Ash asked as they began crossing. Gary thought about it for a minute. "Eh, probably not. I'll leave it for later. Up for a quick sparring session?" he asked, to which Ash grinned. "Sounds good. I'll drop my things off at my room and meet you on the field." With both agreeing, they separated as they finished crossing the bridge, each heading to their respective living quarters to drop off their things.

* * *

Having finished his latest tactical book in the quiet of the palace gardens, Lucian and Alakazam began making their way back to their room to see if Dawn was presentable for dinner. He silently hoped that she and Piplup had settled things and were repairing whatever was inevitably damaged in their argument. '_Those two can go from the best of friends to the worst of enemies in the blink of an eye. This would actually be quite amusing if we weren't here representing Sinnoh at the moment.' _He was interrupted from his thoughts when he realized he was back at his room's door. Holding his breath, he opened the door and walked in. First thing he noted was the fact that the room was spotless. Second, neither Dawn nor Piplup were in the living area. A quick scan of the suite showed that they must have left earlier, but seeing as they put the suite back together and nothing looked broken, he was satisfied that the two must be exploring the castle.

'_At least the majority of the time when she does this, she makes sure there's no evidence. They probably didn't even notice us earlier' _he mused with a smirk. "Well, they must have made up if the room is intact. They'll pop up eventually. Getting hungry Alakazam?" he asked his partner, to which his partner nodded. As they left the suite and headed to the dining hall, he now hoped that Dawn wouldn't get into anymore trouble with Piplup.

* * *

Dawn and Piplup, having since made up but with a new bruise or two on each of them, continued to wander around the palace, just content to see how things operated in Rota. Eventually they came to a hallway opening up to a small stadium of sorts, and saw a trio of boys and a redheaded girl with their Pokémon. Two of the boys, one with black hair, one with brown seemed to be sparring, while the third, sporting lighter, sandy brown hair and glasses observed from a nearby bench along with the redhead, who had her orange hair pulled into a side Ponyta-tail. A yellow mouse-like Pokémon and a pair of small brown foxes also occupied the bench with them.

The Sinnish pair were about to continue on their way when they saw one of the boys hands glow blue and hurl what looked like a water attack at the other, who barely managed to dodge. '_Was that… a Pokémon attack?' _Glancing at Piplup, who was also rather stunned by that display, she turned back to continue watching the boys spar. '_These must be the Aura Guardians of Rota that Lucien told me about. Maybe I can learn something from them.'_

* * *

'_Block right, hook left, dodge back, circle around.' _As Ash and Gary continued their sparring match, the two Guardians became aware of a fifth human presence in the area in addition to their friends Aer and Misty. Shooting a quick glance at the hall leading back to the palace proper, Gary noticed someone standing in the shadows. "Hey Ashy-boy, we got an admirer. Want to give 'em a show?" he asked with a grin as he narrowly dodged a right hook from his opponent.

Ash's only response was a grunt as he charged up a small Aura Sphere, hurling it much to Gary's surprise. "Hey, not cool, I wasn't ready!" he cried as he barely dodged the attack. His grin returned as he charged straight at Ash, arms held in an X pattern in front of him. Ash ducked under it and delivered a sweeping kick across the ground, dropping Gary onto his backside, damaging his ego even further. They could hear Misty chuckling from the bench, and even Aer was grinning. Gary always tried too hard to impress, and it normally ended up making him look like a fool.

Ash had backed up with a satisfied grin, still in a low combat stance when Gary finally made his way to his feet. Pulling one arm back for an Aura-enhanced punch, he charged towards his raven-haired friend. Seeing this caused Ash to mirror his movements and began charging with his own attack-enhanced punch. When the two met, they ended up throwing their punches, missing each others fists and clocking each other in the jaw. Both ended up on their rears, causing all people and Pokémon present to begin laughing, Ash and Gary included.

As their friends walked over to the two to pull them to their feet, Gary turned towards the hall and waved the stranger forward, which caused her to jump slightly. She hadn't realized they'd seen her, but she decided there was no point in running. Walking into the small stadium was a teenage girl with dark blue hair fastened with a pair of golden clips, a long sleeveless black dress that came down to her mid thigh with a jagged pink design at the bottom, white undershirt, pink scarf hanging from her shoulders, and a small, blue penguin-like Pokémon in her arms. She was smiling nervously when she finally made it to the small group. "Uh… Hi" was all she managed to get out.

Pikachu was the first to introduce himself, hopping onto Ash's shoulder to do so. "Pika-Pikachu!" Ash smiled and followed his friend. "Hey. I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu." The Brunette was up next, one of the Eevee's jumping on his shoulder and grinning confidently. "Gary, Gary Oak at your service, beautiful. This is Eevee." Noticing the redhead's face was now the same color as her hair and her death glare was fixed to the side of Gary's head, Aer decided it would be best if he introduced himself next, along with the other Eevee. "I am know as Aer, and this is my partner Eevee. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss."

The final member of their group had finally calmed down so her face wasn't matching her hair color anymore, though she still didn't look exactly pleased with Gary at the moment. "I'm Misty. Misty Waterflower." The bluenette nodded to the four with a nervous smile. "I'm Dawn, and this is my partner, Piplup" she said with a decidedly Sinnish accent. "I take it you're all Aura Guardians?" she asked with a bit of uncertainty. Ash smiled and shook his head. "Gary and I are, though we're still in training. Aer's a Pokémon Tactician, and Misty is actually visiting from Kanto."

Gary nodded, continuing "Her sisters are here performing for an upcoming festival, so she decided to tag along on vacation, though Ash and I knew her from when we were younger, before she moved." Misty smiled a bit from the mention. "What about you, Dawn?" she asked.

The blunette's eyes widened a bit as she thought about it. "Piplup and I are actually here with my teacher from Western Sinnoh. We're Tacticians, though we're actually hoping to work with the Guardians, if our visit goes well." Gary grinned at the thought. "I'd be quite happy to work alongside you!" he blurted without thinking. As soon as the words left his mouth, a loud thunk resounded in the stadium, caused by a certain redhead's fist meeting a certain brunette's head. Pikachu, Ash, the Eevees and Aer all laughed nervously at their friend's actions, Misty having knocked Gary out completely.

Aer finally decided to break the awkward silence as Misty began to drag Gary over to the bench. "You said Pokémon Tactician, I hear the Sinnish Tacticians are among the best. Perhaps we could have a battle sometime?" he asked, adjusting his glasses as he did so, causing them to briefly shine brightly. "If I have time during my visit, I don't see anything wrong with that. Piplup and I aren't slouches though, so don't expect us to go easy on you" she said with a confident grin. Aer was about to shoot back a confident comment of his own when he was interrupted by the growling of a stomach, Ash's to be precise.

Sheepishly, the Guardian trainee scratched the back of his head, blushing a bit. "Maybe we could eat first? It's been hours since I last ate" he asked, causing all conscious people and Pokémon to chuckle.

* * *

Dinner had been served and now Riley, Lucario, several other members of the Aura Guardian Order, Princess Ilene, Queen Rin, Lucian, and Dawn were all standing by a table with a map of Sinnoh spread across it, brought by Lucian. "So, on behalf of the Kingdom of Western Sinnoh, I thank you for your time, your Highness. I'll be brief; the Western Kingdom of Sinnoh wishes to hire the Aura Guardians to assist us with an… issue. Specifically, a group by the name of Galactic, a mercenary guild, have been conducting raids on the Western Kingdom for several months now, stealing everything from specific Pokémon to evolutionary stones to any information relating to Legendary Pokémon in Sinnoh. They've even resorted to kidnapping as of late. Unfortunately, because they're based in Eastern Sinnoh, specifically near Veilstone City, we're unable to legally attack them without risking war with our neighboring kingdom.

"That's where the Aura Guardians come in. Due to your position as a neutral order after the end of the Unovan Blitz, your group can request access to Eastern Sinnoh to deal with the group. We've tried appealing to the government before, and they've rejected our requests every time." As he proceeded to explain the situation, he had pointed out various things upon the map, such as the border between the two nations made up by Mount Coronet, Veilstone City, and the various nation capitals.

An older Guardian was the first to speak up. "Without solid evidence, all we can do is send a Guardian or two to investigate. If they find evidence to support your claims, then they will be able to decide upon a course of action. However, and I wish to make this very clear, the Aura Guardians have no wish to be dragged into another nation's war. If it comes to war between the Northern Kingdoms, we will not assist you" he stated firmly. Dawn's face fell a bit at hearing that, but Lucian simply nodded. "I assumed would be the case, though I'm both surprised and thankful you're at least giving us the benefit of the doubt on this matter. Aura Guardian authority should be sufficient to allow us to deal with Galactic and hopefully capture their leader."

"Who is their leader?" The question was blurted out by Riley, which caused a few disapproving looks from the older Guardians, and a sad smile from Lucian. "He was an apprentice of mine, a few years ago. He was fascinated with Astronomy, but due to a long series of events, he eventually came to lead a band of mercenaries and consider the rest of Sinnoh to be unworthy of the 'Gifts of the Stars', as he put it" Lucian explained.

Queen Rin finally cleared her throat to speak, and all eyes turned to her. "It would appear, Lucian, that you will have your Guardians. All that's left to be decided will be who is going." At this, Riley stepped forward with his head held high. "If I may, M'lady?" he asked politely. Seeing the Queen's smile and nod, he continued. "I'd like to volunteer myself and Lucario for this. I can also suggest the two Trainees, Ash Arlon and Gary Oak accompany us as part of their trials."

After a glance at the older Guardian who spoke before, who nodded to her after a moment, Queen Rin smiled at Riley before nodding. "It would appear, then, that your request will be granted, Sir Riley. Lucian, Dawn, you both may stay at the Palace until you wish to begin your journey back to Sinnoh. Sir Riley, have your team on standby to leave with them by tomorrow morning."

Both Riley and Lucian nodded to their Queen, and with that, the meeting was concluded. The Guardians went to make preparations, and the Queen and her daughter retired for the night, leaving Lucian, Alakazam, Dawn and Piplup to head back to their room for the night.

"You and Piplup did a good job of cleaning the room while I was gone," Lucian started, waiting to see her reaction. Dawn reddened slightly, as did Piplup. "I have no idea what you're talking about…" she stated with a nervous chuckle. Lucian smirked. "So I assume it was just a random Rotan who broke into our room and chased Piplup around shouting about her hair was her life and how she would 'show him the true meaning of hair damage'?"

As Dawn and Piplup both scrambled to provide an explanation, amusingly conflicting versions of course, Lucian simply laughed as the two continued arguing over whose version was accurate.

* * *

_So, hopefully you all enjoyed that. I greatly appreciate your interest in my work, coming from someone who was flunking English and Creative Writing growing up, knowing that people actually enjoy my writing and ideas is a massive boost to my self confidence, so thank you all. So, as you may have noticed in Chapter 2, I had a flashback incorporated, and I very nearly incorporated another flashback in the flashback to describe the Graduation night. However, I realized that would like be fairly messy, so I decided against it. My question is would you all be interested in separate one shots, involving things like Aaron and Delia, or Riley and Lucario's training adventures? I will likely work on it at some point, and I'm just wondering where the interest is at the moment, if there is any at all. As always, comments, reviews, and feedback are greatly appreciated and encouraged. Thanks for reading and have a great night._


	4. Calm before the Storm

_Alright all, Hawke here again with the next chapter. Now, as I've stated, this is my first fic so it seems I've made a few errors that have caused confusion, brought up to me by Shiningsky, so I hope to address these issues. First of which, character ages. Ash, Gary, Aer, and May will all be 18 in this, Dawn at 17, Max at 16, Misty at 19, and Riley at 21. Delia was pregnant with Ash when Aaron passed, I had thought I mentioned that, but apparently I missed that detail. So I apologize for the confusion. Average Trial completion age is 18 or so, though with Lucario Riley managed to beat that by a few years at 16. Most asked question are when May and Max are going to be introduced, and I can finally answer that. They're introduced in the end of this chapter, and will be expanded upon and officially join the group next chapter. I also forgot to mention an explanation for Tacticians. While Contests are mostly a new thing in the modern era, I doubt they had them around in Aaron's time, so I created the Tactician, trainers specializing in similar combat to the coordinators. Dawn's fighting style will be more flashy than Lucian's, reminiscent of normal style of coordinating. Sorry for not posting that last chapter, it slipped my mind. So, after that wall of text, I want to apologize for the confusion and will likely add in the mentions I made in this. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, characters, ect._

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Riley and Lucario made it back to their suite a few hours before midnight and found Delia, Pikachu, and Ash sitting at the table in the small kitchen talking. '_At least I can tell them both at once'_ he thought to himself. "Evening you three."

Delia was the first to notice her eldest son and his partner enter, smiling to the two.

"I was wondering when you two were going to get home. Have you both eaten yet?" she asked, her mothering nature kicking in as Ash and Pikachu shot them smiles of their own.

"Yes, Lucario and I ate earlier. Sorry we're late, we were stuck in a meeting with the delegates from Sinnoh, then we had to see to some Guardian business. We actually just came from Sam Oak's" he finished as he went to take a seat at their table with Lucario.

Ash's expression turned slightly confused upon hearing this. "What'd you need at Gary's place at this time of night, anyways?" he asked curiously, Pikachu matching his expression.

His brother only took a deep breath before continuing. "I was informing Gary that his Trials would be starting earlier than planned. And on that topic… So will yours."

Ash and Pikachu let out a small cheer, both grinning at the news. "Awesome, when do we start, will we need anything, oh man this is exciting, we're gonna be Aura Guardians Pikachu!"

"Pikapi!"

Riley sweatdropped slightly at his brother's behavior before Delia stepped in.

"Let your brother finish first, Ash. It's not polite to interrupt others. Now, you were saying, Riley?" she asked with a smile.

Nodding, Riley continued "The West Sinnish are requesting Aura Guardians to investigate some border incursions by a mercenary group based in East Sinnoh. Queen Rin and the Order agreed, and are sending Lucario and I. Ash and Gary are being given the choice of coming as a way to complete their training."

By this point Ash was grinning from ear to ear. Delia, however, had a look of worry.

"As you can probably guess, Gary jumped on the offer" he continued. "But I wanted to speak with both of you about this before anything was decided, as far as Little Brother is concerned."

While Ash looked ready to go get packed and run to Sinnoh by himself that moment, Delia looked apprehensive.

"When would you two be leaving?" she asked after a moment.

"Assuming you sign off on Ash coming, we'd have to be ready to leave tomorrow morning, depending on when Lucian and Dawn plan to set out. Lucian and Dawn are the Sinnish delegates I mentioned earlier," he clarified.

She began thinking to herself as Ash and Pikachu tried to contain their excitement. '_I suppose I expected this day to come. But between Riley, Lucario, Ash, Pikachu, Gary, and Eevee, they should be alright. I think I can be okay with this'_ she thought to herself.

Bracing herself with a smile, she closed her eyes and nodded. "Alright, but I want you to watch out for the boys, Riley. I'm counting on you."

Riley was about to reassure her when Ash let out a large cheer, likely waking up anyone, human or Pokémon that were trying to sleep on this floor of the palace. "Awesome! Thanks mom, thanks Riley! Come on Pikachu, we've got to go pack, oh this is going to be awesome, are you excited Pikachu?!"

"Pika chupika, Pikapi!"

Delia could only smile and shake her head at her youngest son's enthusiasm as he and Pikachu bolted to their room to get packed for tomorrow. She turned a serious look to Riley, who raised his hands to hold off any argument.

"I'll watch them both like a Pidgeot. Lucario and I will make sure nothing happens to them, I promise. I assume that means you're okay with him coming?" he asked, to which the auburn-haired woman nodded with a small smile.

"He's too much like his father. If I told him he couldn't go now, it'd be like I was canceling Christmas. Just... Be careful, alright?" Her oldest son nodded with a reassuring smile.

"In that case, I've got to drop by the Order Bureau and let them know both boys will be joining us when we leave. Shouldn't take long, I'll be back shortly." As he stood, he looked to his constant companion. "Coming Lucario?"

The blue jackal shook his head with a small smirk. "_I believe you can handle a walk in the palace corridors without requiring me to escort you, Master Riley" _he telepathically stated, slightly amused.

Shrugging, Riley made his way back out the door he entered through and headed off towards the Order headquarters in the lower levels of the palace, leaving Lucario and Delia still at the table. The Pokémon quickly grinned and turned to address Delia.

"_Lady Delia, it appears you were correct in your assumption. Master Riley is indeed acting more and more like Sir Aaron did with you around his graduation. I can only assume this means he is quite fond of Mistress Ilene." _

Hearing this brought a large, slightly mischievous smile to the woman's face. "I knew it. I always thought those two would make just the cutest couple. But, if he's anything like his father, it'll take a bit of a push to get him to realize this. As great as Aaron was, he could be so… dense at times," she reminisced, feeling happy with the evening overall.

'_Sure, Ash and Riley are going to Sinnoh, but they're both strong, and they'll have their friends with them. And this… Wait till Rin hears this!' _she thought with a grin.

* * *

"And Gary, remember when you get to Sinnoh to drop by Scholar Rowan's at some point and drop off those books, it is imperative that it get's done before you leave."

"Yes, Gramps..."

"And remember that Sinnoh Pokémon are inherently different from Kantonese and Johtean Pokémon, so you may not be able to use your current training methods with them."

"Yes, Gramps..."

Ever since Riley came by to ask the brunette teenager if he wanted to take his trials early in Sinnoh, Samuel Oak had been in overdrive, making sure his grandson was well prepared for life in the Sinnoh region. This had continued for the last hour, with Gary silently hoping his Grandfather would eventually run out of advice to give him.

"And don't forget to bring a scarf, because the Sinnoh Region is much colder in climate that Rota."

"Yes, Gramps…"

"And remember that East Sinnoh and West Sinnoh are separate countries and enjoy different laws and customs from each other."

"Yes, Gramps…"

As the elder Oak continued spouting off more information, advice, and requests, Gary's eyes began wandering the small suite he shared with his Grandfather, looking for a way out. Very similar to the one given to the Sinnish delegates, it differed in the fact that the main living area was filled with hundreds, if not thousands of books, quill pens, inkwells, papers, notes, scrolls, and other assorted library-esque things. Gary's desperate eyes finally settled on a familiar book, _Migrational patterns of Flying type Pokémon indigenous to the Kalos Region._

"And always remember that Shellos and Gastrodon are colored depending on which side of Coronet they're from. Pink for West, Blue for East. Or was it the other way around? What do you think, Gary? Gary?" His rant was interrupted by the sound of a snoring teen, face buried in a book. The elder Oak grinned. '_He's so excited, he fell asleep reading all he can for the journey! I'm so proud.'_

* * *

"Assuming our Guardian companions are ready tomorrow, we'll leave around noon. With any luck, we'll be in Pewter City by weeks end and on a boat to Sinnoh a day or two after that," Lucian stated as they returned to their room. "I'd suggest you both get some sleep. We've got a long trek home."

Leaving his young apprentice and her starter alone, he and Alakazam had retired to their own room while Dawn and Piplup quietly made it to their own. "It's a shame we can't stay here in Rota longer, but it'll be good to get home," she said as she closed the door behind her. " Maybe now we can finally do something about Galactic."

"Piplup. Piplup pip," her starter chirped, agreeing with the blunette.

Yawning, Dawn removed her scarf and began getting ready for bed. "This region is just too warm compared to home. Well, I suppose it could be worse. I hear Hoenn is even hotter this time of year." Fifteen minutes later, she finally laid her head down on the pillow, pulling the covers over her. She began thinking of home. And shortly after that, her and Piplup fell asleep with thoughts of Sinnoh in their heads.

* * *

"Pikachu, you asleep yet?" Ash whispered to his ever present companion, receiving a light, negative-sounding "Pika" in return. "Yeah, me neither. I can't wait until morning. This is going to be great, traveling in the Sinnoh Region, becoming Aura Guardians… It'll be just like the stories about dad," he whispered excitedly. "Think of all the new types of Pokémon we'll get to meet." A large yawn escaped the raven-haired teen, his eyes beginning to feel heavy.

The Mouse Pokémon opposite him gave a small grin before a yawn overtook him as well. "Pika pikachu pi," he said before falling asleep, his best friend and trainer joining him shortly after that.

* * *

Princess Ilene had returned to her room shortly after the meeting, cursing her own cowardice. "Well, I made a royal idiot out of myself today. First the practice field. Arceus, I could have handled that better." she said to herself, shaking her head. "I made myself look like some sort drooling reprobate who had nothing better to do than watch him and Lucario. Then tonight… I couldn't even work up the courage to talk to him before he left." She sighed in frustration. "Why do I always do that when I'm around him now?"

'_What if he doesn't feel the same?' _she thought to herself as she began getting ready for bed. '_I mean, sure Riley and I grew up together, and I've had this crush for a while now, but what if he still only sees me like a little sister to him? I have noticed he's been getting quieter lately whenever I'm around. He's distracted whenever we talk. And now he's going to Sinnoh… Did he volunteer just to get away from me?' _

This thought startled her. But the more she thought about it, the more the pieces began to fit together. '_He's been distant, he's focusing more on his training… Maybe I'm just a distraction to him. Does he really see me like that? Could I… be pushing away my best friend?' _

As more questions arose, she found that she had no answers to them. Just a growing dread that she was leaving because of her, which caused her to curse her own timidness for the hundredth time that night. Her mind continued to wage war with her heart due to her recent theories. "This is ridiculous. At this rate, I'll never get any sleep. I'll try to confront him about it tomorrow, before he leaves. Maybe… Maybe I can even tell him how I feel. Even if he doesn't feel the same way... or even outright rejects me, I can say that I tried. And I'll finally know for sure."

She tried convincing herself of that as she finished getting for bed. As she tucked herself in, hugging her favorite doll, a Mime Jr. doll, she calmed down slightly, enough to push the war down long enough to sleep. And when the young twenty year old princess tried to find rest in the evening's embrace, thoughts of a certain blue-haired Guardian remained on her mind.

* * *

Riley laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his quarters. His mind was going over the past few weeks. He had realized that both he and Ilene had… changed in their relationship as of late, with earlier today being a prime example. Normally his blonde friend was such an easy person to be around, but lately it seemed like she was nervous whenever she came near him. He'd seen her be her usually happy, bubbly self, reacting as she always did as she went around the Palace, but whenever he showed up, it was like she was a totally different person. '_Was it something I said to her?'_

He began thinking back to when she was last acting like herself. It took him a bit, but he finally recalled earlier last year, a festival they had gone to in town. Queen Rin had asked him to escort her daughter around and see that she had a good time. They had enjoyed the day a lot, as he remembered it. It had been the first time she was allowed to visit one of the yearly festivals, being that royalty were normally targets for everything from pickpockets and cutpurses, to kidnappers and assassins. He was just doing his duty.

'_Let's see… I recall us getting something to eat, I seem to recall some sort of dart-tossing game for prizes. I wonder if she still has that Mime Jr. doll I won for her...'_ As he continued going through his memories of that day, he felt a smile start working it's way onto his face, but he also felt some other emotion that he couldn't quite place. It made his stomach feel strange. Not unpleasant strange, just different. '_Why is it I feel like this when I think about her?' _he thought to himself as he tossed and turned.

"_Your father felt a similar sensation." _

Riley bolted upright, startled until he realized his friend must have been listening to his thoughts. An annoying habit he had picked up since he started traveling with Riley. He decided to ignore the lack of privacy in exchange for answers, continuing their conversation in thought as to not possibly wake up his mother or brother. '_Do you remember what caused it?' _he asked in the moonlit room.

"_As I recall, Sir Aaron felt that way due to one specific person. He once asked me what it was that he felt, though I had no answer for him. I believe he eventually began referring to that feeling as love, shortly after becoming romantically involved with Lady Delia," _Lucario told him telepathically.

Riley's eyes widened at the implication. "Are you saying I'm in love with Ilene?" he asked aloud, forgetting momentarily about keeping silent.

"_I'm simply answering your question. I'm not implicating that you have an emotional attachment to Mistress Ilene, only you can figure that out," _he replied simply.

Laying his head back down on his pillow, his mind raced with implications.

'_I love Ilene? Well, I mean I do like spending time with her. And I guess this feeling started surfacing after the festival, whenever we are alone...' _

The twenty-one year olds mind had become a mess of thoughts quickly, to the point where even Lucario stopped listening to gain enough peace to meditate. Riley sighed and started to try to look at everything rationally. '_Alright, I know we grew up together, so that obviously left us close. But love…?'_

Glancing out his window at the stars and moon above, he took a deep breath to calm himself. '_Alright, the few girls around my age consist of Ilene, Misty who seems a tad too… anger-prone for me, and…' _

Drawing a blank, having grown up in the palace most of his life, he decided to move on. '_Could I see us together? Well, first setting aside the fact that she's a Princess and next in line to inherit the Rotan throne and I'm just a knight in the service of her mother… I guess she's the only girl around my age that I trust completely. I'm a bit worried about how she's been acting lately, so that must mean something too.'_

For the next hour or so, he looked back over all their time together, starting with his mother's lessons for the two of them. Helping each other with their education. Playing when they were young. The arguments. Sneaking out of the castle to watch the stars at times. The festival. The way her eyes lit up when he won her that doll. Her praise on his fighting abilities. As he continued to go through their time together, he became aware of two things. The first being that Lucario was probably right. The second… He had no idea how she'd react if he told her how he felt.

'_Would it drastically change things between us? Does she just see me as more of a brother figure? Would she reject my feelings because of our positions?'_ Riley now wished he hadn't asked Lucario in a way. At least before, he could have put it aside to sleep. Now… he was more nervous than when he took his trials.

* * *

Ash, Pikachu, Lucario, and Riley all awoke to the smell of a massive breakfast feast, prepared by one of the finest chefs in Rota, Delia Ketchum Arlon. As the boys and their partners eventually stumbled out of their rooms to the delicious scent of breakfast, Delia couldn't help but giggle at their predictability.

"Good morning boys. Sleep well?" she asked as she brought plates of bagels, sausage, bacon, and eggs to the table, each stacked high for the impending feeding frenzy.

She managed to get a "Sort of" and "Great mom" before the Ashs mouth were incapable of speaking around the food he was progressively shoving into his head, Riley following at a slightly slower pace, clearly lost in thought.

"Are you alright, RIley?" she asked cautiously, slightly worried about her son. He looked up and blinked before nodding.

"I think so. Just something on my mind that I want to see later, before we leave," he said before returning his attention to his breakfast, finally regaining a bit of his appetite.

As she watched her two little boys and their Pokémon indulge themselves on what may be the last home cooking they'd have in a while, she couldn't help but smile at the two young men they were becoming. Riley and Lucario reminded her so much of Aaron when he was younger, if slightly quieter, while Ash's love for Pokémon and adventure, and his personality were just like Aaron's when he was that age.

"Before you both leave, I have some things for you," she stated as she went to retrieve what appeared to be a bundles wrapped in heavy paper while the Arlon boys continued to eat possibly their last meal in Rota.

Upon her return, she handed each boy a large bundle. With large grin on Ash's face and a look of curiosity on Riley's, the two boys looked inside, finding new outfits for each of the, complete with cloaks. "I knew you boys were starting to outgrow your old outfits, so I made you each a new set! They should keep you nice and warm in Sinnoh. The cloaks are the exact same style as the one your father wore, too," she said with a grin. Ash's grin doubled in size and Riley's eyes widened in excitement, a small grin crossing his face.

"Included are two full outfits, complete with pants, shirts, tunics, and underwear. Please don't forget to change them every day," she added with a small smile, much to the embarrassment of her two sons.

'_As much as they complain when I do that, it will never get old,'_ she thought to herself with a small giggle.

Riley was the first to recover from the embarrassment, standing and giving his mother a large hug. "Thanks mom. I've been needing some new clothes for a while now, this is perfect."

Ash soon made his way to hug Delia as well, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks so much mom, these are awesome! Can I try them on now?" he asked excitedly.

Delia simply beamed at her two boys as she nodded, causing Ash and Pikachu to bolt for their room to get changed, with Riley heading to his own to get dressed. Lucario simply shook his head and returned to meditating, having finished eating while Delia had given them their gift.

'_It's going to be so quiet without them around,'_ she thought to herself. '_No, stop that. This is their dream, and I will support them one hundred percent!' _Delia's breath caught when both her boys exited their rooms in their new outfits. They truly did look like their father in those outfits. She soon found herself in a crushing hug from Ash. "Thanks so much mom!" "Pika!"

"Alright you three, finish your breakfast. You've got a long day, and a few more surprises ahead of you."

* * *

Delia led her two sons out of Cameran Palace, out to a small secluded section of the forest nearby. Riley, Ash and Pikachu were curious what else their mother had in store for them, however Lucario had a knowing smile on his face. Turning back to smile at her sons, she put her fingers to her lips and let out a loud, piercing whistle. A few moments later, they heard the beating of wings causing them to look up.

"Pidgeot!" Ash grinned at seeing his father's old companion come to land next to Delia.

Riley walked up to him and ruffled the plumage under his chin. "Pidgeot, it's been a while. Good to see you," he stated with a grin.

The two heard Delia clear her throat and returned their attention to her. "Pidgeot here has agreed to help us keep in touch when you leave for Sinnoh. He'll help you two by carrying letters and small packaged between Sinnoh and Rota, all you need to do is whistle loud enough," she said with a proud smile. "I want you both to know that if you two ever need anything, you can always come to me. Even if I'm in a different region, you two can always send me a letter."

Riley looked back at Pidgeot, who nodded to show he'd help in that matter. "Thanks mom. This means a lot. You too, Pidgeot."

Ash smiled and nodded as well. "Yeah, we'll definitely keep in touch, thanks so much mom. You too, Pidgeot." Pidgeot raised his head high and gave a loud cry, clearly proud.

Riley glanced back at Delia. "We're going to miss you mom. Thanks for everything, I couldn't ask for a better mother," he said with a warm smile.

Ash nodded. "Agreed. Thanks for everything mom."

"Pika!"

Delia smiled and felt her eyes getting wet as she hugged her two boys. "Be safe, you two. Go out and make your father and I proud."

* * *

After a rather tearful farewell, the boys left and split up, with Ash and Pikachu going to get Gary and Eevee, while Riley went to find Princess Ilene, seeing as it was still rather early in the morning and the Sinnish were still sorting out their final details. He decided to try to find her presence in the Palace using Aura, eventually managing to track her to a balcony overlooking the lake.

When he finally arrived, he saw her leaning on the rail looking out across the lake, appearing to be deep in thought. Quietly asking Lucario to give him a moment, he slowly moved to join her at the railing, resting his arms against it. When Ilene finally realized she wasn't alone anymore, she stiffened and glanced at Riley.

"Uh, Riley… I didn't hear you arrive. Do you need something?" she asked, feeling suddenly more nervous.

Riley continued staring out at the lake, fidgeting a bit.

'_Is he… nervous?' _she silently asked herself.

After a minute, however, Riley finally found his voice. "Ilene, can we… talk for a bit?" he asked.

She blinked. "Um… I don't mind. Did you want to talk about a specific subject?" she asked, trying not to stutter or repeat yesterday.

After a deep breath, Riley forced himself to look at her, trying to keep his nerves up. His face began to lightly redden. '_It's now or I'll have to wait till I return from Sinnoh… Come on, Riley, you faced down a Registeel with Lucario back in the Tree, you can talk to Ilene,' _he thought to himself.

'_Don't be nervous, it's just Riley. This could be a chance to tell him how you feel, don't lose your nerve now,' _she silently told herself.

After what seemed like an hour to them both, but had only been a minute in reality, Riley finally spoke again. "Ilene, do you… do you remember when we went to the festival last year?" he finally managed to get out.

Taken a little off guard by the question, she nodded. "Of course, that was the most fun I've had in a long…" she trailed off as she realized what she was saying. "Um, I mean yes. I recall the festival," she said softly.

'_That reaction was a bit odd… Maybe she remembered something about it that I don't… I hope it wasn't anything bad,' _Riley thought to himself. "The… the reason I bring it up is… because, um… I was thinking about it last night. About a lot of things, actually. And I guess I was wondering, you know, if you'd… like to go again sometime? With me, maybe?" he added softly.

Ilene took a moment to run through that again. '_Did Riley… just ask me out?' _She felt her hopes begin to slowly rise, and before she lost her nerve again, she decided to ask. "Riley… Are you… asking me out… on a date?"

Immediately Riley's face soon became as red as a Razz Berry and he attempted to fight off the feeling of panic that began to rise in his chest by looking back at the lake. "Uhm… Assuming that's alright with you, I mean. If not, I'd understand, I mean, after all I'm just a Knight and all…"

He trailed off as a small, soft hand fell upon his on the railing. When he brought his eyes back up, he saw Ilene smiling softly, her cheeks tinged pink. "I would love to go to the next festival with you."

By this point, Riley's cheeks felt like they were on fire, both were glowing bright red. His insides began feeling strange again, but he gave Ilene the most reassuring smile he could muster. "Well, that's great, then. Then… Maybe the first festival after I get back from Sinnoh?" he asked, to which she nodded. Both were blushing furiously, wearing nervous grins.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Because of Pidgeot and my mother, I'll be able to send letters to the palace periodically. So we can keep in touch while I'm in Sinnoh."

Ilene smiled lightly. "So you're going to write me and tell me about your travels? That's a bit of a relief," she stated.

Riley looked at her curiously. "Why's that, if you don't mind my asking?"

Her expression fell a bit, and it was her turn to fidget. "Um… well, if I'm being honest… I sort of… may have thought that you volunteered… to get away from the palace because…" she trailed off, looking as if she wanted so simply run as far away as she could.

Seeing this, he unconsciously took her hand and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze. "Because?" he ask quietly. Taking a deep breath, the young girl closed her eyes and braced herself. "Because I thought you wanted to get away from me. That you thought I was keeping you back from your training and one thought led to another, and, and…"

She was nearly to tears when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Ilene… We've known each other since our fathers died. You're my best friend. I could never leave you like that. And that's a promise. I may not be at the palace all the time because of my duties, but if you ever need anything, I'm going to do my best to be there for you. Alright?"

Ilene looked up at her best friend, stunned at his words. Many conflicting emotions raced through her mind, but most of them started making way for one to rise up; safety. She felt safe. Being right here, in Riley's arms, it somehow felt right to her. All her worries from last night seemed to melt away as she saw the small, sincere smile on Riley's face. Smiling, she closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. '_Sure, he may be going to Sinnoh soon… But for right now, this is enough.'_

* * *

Dawn had woken up early, as usual, to spend most of her morning making sure every strand of her blue hair was perfect. And, as usual, Piplup was 'helping' her with her endeavour.

"Just give me the brush, Piplup, I can do it myself!" the young teen shouted as her starter weaved and jumped around the room, the blunette giving chase. "Piplup! Pip pip lup pip!" he shouted back as he ducked under furniture like tables and chairs. "Give it! Come on, we need to finish getting ready if we ever want to leave this place!"

After a few minutes, and a few new bruises on Dawn's head from attempting to follow Piplup into spaces that were much smaller than she was, she had finally retrieved her prized brush and was currently finishing up work on her hair. Just as she was putting the finishing touches, she heard a knock on her door.

"Dawn? We're leaving in ten minutes, I truly hope you're ready to go," came the muffled voice of Lucian.

Doing a quick double check of her room, she did an inventory, counting on her fingers. "Bag, check. Dressed, check. Hair, check. Piplup, check. I think we're ready to go. What do you think, Piplup?"

Piplup hopped onto her bag and raised it's head proudly. "Piplup!"

Lucian was rather pleasantly surprised when Dawn's door opened two minutes after his announcement. Nodding to his teenaged pupil, he, Alakazam, Dawn, and Piplup all began working their way back to the entrance of the palace. Lucian's eidetic memory allowed him to lead them without the need of a guide, and having spoken with Sir Riley earlier, he knew to meet the Guardians on the end of the bridge to town.

"I trust you've been keeping up with your studies?" he asked as the four of them walked the long bridge back to town.

"No need to worry! I finished both books you gave me to read. Cover to cover!"

Lucian sighed at this. "Please tell me you didn't -just- read the covers…"

The young blunette giggled. "Of course not! I happen to take your lessons very seriously. My dream is to become a master Tactician like you and my mom, after all."

Lucian smiled at this. Not because of her praise, but because he knew that she was trying to deflect his question. "In that case, _Hoenn Aerial Tactics_. Chapter four, titled?" he asked his pupil with a smirk.

"Advanced maneuvering and… Terrain tactics?" she said a tad uncertainly.

"Correct. Good to know that some things aside from hair care knowledge manage to make it through all that blue hair of yours," Lucian replied with a smile, causing the the blunette to puff out her cheeks in annoyance.

"I told you I take these lessons seriously," she stated.

"Pip, piplup!" her starter agreed with her.

As they neared the end of the bridge, Lucian noticed the Guardian from last night, '_Riley I think his name was,' _along with a pair of teenage boys, one with messy black hair, one with spiky brown hair.

"Looks like Ash and Gary are coming too," his blunette companion stated.

"You know them?" he asked curiously. "Yup, I met them and some of their friends yesterday. Both of them are Aura Guardians in training," she supplied.

Gary was the first to see the two Sinnoh natives approaching, poking Ash in the stomach with his elbow and pointing for Riley. Lucian gave the boys a polite nod.

"Morning Sir RIley. These are your companions I take it?"

Riley nodded. "Allow me to introduce my little brother Ash Arlon, and Gary Oak, grandson of Scholar Samuel Oak. This trip will also act as their final Trials to become full Guardians. While they are still in training, I trust them both with my life," he stated to reassure the purple haired Tactician.

"That should be fine, though I would recommend you and your brother use a name other than Arlon while we're in Sinnoh. Sir Aaron made a bit of an… impression in East Sinnoh a few decades back. Some people might still hold a grudge," he informed the two brothers.

Glancing at each other, Ash was the first to speak up. "What if we use mom's maiden name, Ketchum?" he asked Riley.

"That could work. Mom never really left Kanto until she came north to Rota, so that should be fine. So, are you and Dawn ready to leave, sir?"

Lucian smirked. "Bit formal, aren't we? Lucian will do fine. And yes, we're prepared to travel south immediately."

Ash and Gary both let out small cheers, as did Pikachu and Eevee, all of them happy to be beginning their journey. Lucian, Dawn, Riley, and Lucario couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm.

"Well then, we might as well get started. It's a long walk to Pewter City," Lucian finally stated, leading the party forward.

* * *

About an hour since they left, the party was walking at a decent pace, wanting to make it a good portion of the way before they set up camp. It wasn't until Riley and Lucario sensed something rapidly approaching from the path they came did they slow for a moment.

"_You sensed it too, Master?" _Lucario asked him.

"Yeah… Guys, someone's following us."

Lucian's attention was caught instantly. "Can you tell if they're hostile towards us?"

"_Not all of us, no. Just one member in particular,"_ Lucario told them, shooting a glance at a confused Gary. A few second later, a sight greeted them that caused Dawn to stumble backwards and Ash and Gary to shield themselves with their arms.

"GARY OAK!"

The piercing scream that emanated from the furious redhead that had tackled Gary to the ground could be heard echoing all the way back at Cameran Palace.

Eevee had managed to leap off Gary's shoulder before he was tackled, hopping over towards Ash and making his way up to the shoulder opposite Pikachu. Eevee, Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, and Piplup all saw their friend Misty Waterflower, face redder than her hair, holding Gary by the shoulders and slamming him into the ground.

"How could you leave Rota without telling me, after I came all the way from Kanto to see you and Ash! Do you have any idea how angry I am with you, Gary Oak?!" she proceeded to scream as she shook the terrified brunette boy. "Do you have any idea what dealing with my sisters is like without anyone to spend time with?!"

Lucian watched the scene with a slightly open mouth. "Uh… I take it she's a friend of yours?" he asked the two upright-remaining Guardians.

"Yup, that's Misty alright," Ash stated. True, he was feeling sorry for his friend at the moment, but even Ash Ketchum Arlon, one of the densest individuals on the face of the planet wasn't stupid enough to get between Misty and the source of her anger.

Dawn watched in mild shock as Misty proceeded to beat Gary's head against the ground. She looked at Piplup who also looked rather shocked. "Piplup, is this how we look when we fight?"

He nodded.

"Truce?" she asked him, receiving another nod.

Riley, Lucario, Lucian, and Alakazam all watched the scene unfold with varying levels of disbelief. "How did she even find us?" Lucian asked rhetorically.

Gary Oak was still trying to regain his senses, vaguely aware that the back of his head was aching and he had a weight on his chest. It appeared to be mostly red, with orange hair, and was currently trying to crack his skull.

"I had to learn about you leaving from your Grandfather?! You didn't even have the courtesy to tell me yourself?!"

Finally he realized who was currently sitting on him, trying to kill him. "Misty, wait!" He was aware that his head was no longer being used as a hammer as she glared at him. "I, uh… It was Ash's idea!"

Misty finally looked up, realizing she wasn't alone. Instantly her face returned to it's normal color as she smiled at Ash and Riley.

"Oh, hi Ash, Pikachu, Riley," she said as if she wasn't just trying to murder one of their friends only a moment ago. Realizing something, she glared back at Gary. "Ash knew you were leaving and you didn't even have the common courtesy to tell me too?!"

* * *

It was decided that Misty would continue to tag along, mostly because no one wanted to tell her that she couldn't. Gary was obviously being extremely cautious whenever they spoke, not wanting to tick off the girl, and Misty, while civil, didn't seem to care for Dawn speaking with Gary. The blunette just assumed that Misty had her reasons, so she spent her time either talking with Ash, who despite his density was actually a good listener, or Lucian, discussing various tactics.

They had been traveling for the past four days through the rough northern mountains of Kanto, about half a day outside of Pewter City when they decided to stop for a break. They enjoyed the quiet that the seclusion afforded them, before they all turned to hear a shout.

"Someone, help! Anyone!"

Ash, Gary, Riley and Lucario all bolted towards the source of the voice, eventually coming across a teenage boy with dark green hair and glasses, completely out of breath and looking terrified.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked as their other companions finally began catching up.

"You gotta help my sister, she's stuck on the cliff!" He pointed to a direction and Ash was already off, Gary hot on his trail. Riley turned around and saw Lucian arrive, panting a bit.

"Watch him for a minute," he told the Tactician as he went to go help his two charges.

* * *

'_Why does this sort of stuff always happen to me,' _thought a young brunette girl who was currently hanging on the edge of a cliff for dear life. '_I hope Max got help… I want to see Hoenn again…' _

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out a way out of this situation. Max hadn't been strong enough to help her get back up, so he went in search for a person or Pokémon to help him. She felt her fingers beginning to slip, and tear begin forming in her eyes.

Her life began flashing before them shortly after that. Arguing with Max when she was younger. Playing with her parents. Birthdays. Christmas. The day she started helping her father's business, making deliveries. All to end on some nameless cliff in northern Kanto.

She thought she heard people shouting and the sound of boots, but she couldn't be sure. She felt herself slipping. And just as she felt her fingers finally give out from the countless minutes of stressing them to hold her weight, she felt something wrap around her arm, cutting her fall short suddenly. Looking up, she saw a pair of desperate auburn eyes set in a determined face.

"I've got you!"

* * *

_So, that was by far my longest chapter yet, and I decided to throw in a literal cliffhanger. So, for those of you still here, I greatly appreciate the support of you all and love the chance to write for everyone. The IleneXRiley bit was new for my, I've never really done a mushy scene like that so hopefully it doesn't suck. And opinions on Misty? I'm leaning towards Egoshipping in the future, but I'm open to suggestions. That's it for now, reviews and feedback appreciated. Have a great day all!_


	5. Rocky Start in Pewter City

_Evening all, Hawke here again. As I'll be out of state Friday and Saturday, I felt it best if I got this chapter out for you guys before I left. Hope you all enjoy it! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, the characters or the setting.  
_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Ash's brain only registered the words 'sister' and 'cliff'. That's all he had to hear from the boy before he and Pikachu took off running, following the trail that he had pointed to. Before he knew it, his body was moving with the singular thought. '_Someone is in danger.' _

Using his abilities with Aura, he quickly managed to sense a very panicked presence hanging onto the side of the nearby cliff. Even someone as dense as Ash could say with some certainty that there weren't many people who would willingly hang on the side of a cliff, so he assumed this was the boy's sister. Breaking out into a sprint, he charged towards the cliff, breaking into a slide as he neared the edge. Instincts and training kicked in as he skidded to a stop, darting his arm down the cliff to grasp a wrist.

Anchoring himself with a nearby post that at one point held a fence up, he hazarded a glance down the cliff, seeing the terrified face of a brunette girl whose hair was styled rather oddly, with the bangs in sort of an upside down V style, with the most beautiful sapphire eyes he'd ever seen.

"I've got you!" he told her, trying to reassure them both.

Pikachu had jumped off the boys shoulder and grabbed onto his pants leg, trying to help anchor his trainer. Now that Ash's mind had caught up with his body, however, he became acutely aware that he had no real plan. All he knew was that he wasn't about to let the girl drop.

He felt an arm wrap around his own waist and began pulling him back. "I've got ya, Ashy-Boy!" he heard Gary shout.

Ash kept a firm grip on the girls wrist and began to pull her up with him, her other hand reaching up to grab on. Gary then used his weight to fall backwards, pulling Ash and by extension the girl back up onto the cliff. She promptly broke down crying when she finally made it to solid ground. Ash was about to try to see if she was alright when he heard someone else shout "May!"

Turning back, he saw Lucian, Dawn, Misty, Alakazam, Piplup and the girl's forest green-haired brother come running up. The boy stopped just short of her and hugged his sister, who returned the hug while still trying to calm herself down.

Riley walked over and offered a hand to Ash and Gary each, helping them up. "Nice job, you two," he stated simply, having arrived just as they reached the top of the cliff. The two trainees dusted themselves off and headed over to check on the girl with Riley.

"Are you alright, May?" the boy asked her.

May finally managed to get her emotions back under control and stop crying long enough to nod her head. "I'm f-fine, Max. Thanks for g-getting help." She turned back to face the three Guardians, who were watching from a bit away. "Thank you, you guys. You saved me."

Riley simply lifted his hands with a small grin. "Thank these two and their partners. It was all their work," he told her, causing both boys to blink surprised.

May smiled at the two. "Thank you both very much. I appreciate it more than I can tell you."

Noticing how Misty was rapidly getting annoyed again, and the fact that they were all standing next to a cliff, Gary decided to try to save himself another headache. "It was all Ash, really. I just helped him pull you up at the end. He's the one who grabbed you," the brunette boy stated, lightly pushing Ash forward. He quietly sighed in relief when he saw their resident redhead's face return to normal as she studied the two siblings her friends had helped.

The boy finally stood up. "Thanks again, you guys. I don't know what I'd do if May had fallen. I'm Max, by the way," he stated with a grin, helping May to stand as well. Riley smiled and replied "I'm Riley, this is my little brother Ash, our friends Gary and Misty, and our companions from Sinnoh," he finished, indicating the man with purple hair and glasses, along with the blunette girl who were standing nearby.

Lucian decided to speak next. "I'm Lucian, and this is my apprentice Dawn," he stated. "Where are you two kids heading to, if I may ask?" May had finally dried the last of her tears, just happy to be alive. "We were actually on our way from Rota to Pewter City. We decided to stop and catch the view from the railing that… used to be there," she said, smiling sheepishly.

Max continued, "We were just about to leave when a Skarmory flew by, I think he was chasing a Rattata to eat. The Rattata ran by us and the Skarmory knocked May through the fence. I tried to pull her up, but I wasn't strong enough. That's when I went for help," he finished with a small frown.

Both Dawn and Misty smiled at the two, clearly happy their friends had saved them. "Well, it looks like you did manage to save her by finding us," the blunette encouraged him.

Lucian studied them for a moment before stated "We're actually on our way to Pewter City, from Rota as a matter of fact. You're welcome to join us."

Riley nodded in agreement.

The two siblings, however, looked a bit unsure. "Uh, we don't want to impose…" May started to say before Riley held up a hand.

"It's no trouble. Ash, Gary and I are Aura Guardians. Helping people is what we do." Both May and Max's eyes widened at that statement.

"You guys are Aura Guardians? Awesome!" Max cried. May just smiled a bit. '_So, I got saved by an Aura Guardian? Mom will never believe this one...' _

"Do you require anything medically?" Riley asked the girl, to which she shook her head.

"I should be okay, I think I just need a minute," she replied.

Riley nodded and started heading back towards their camp with Lucian. "I'll start getting out stuff sorted so we can leave. Ash, you're with May and Max for the time being. I'd put Gary there too, but I have a feeling Misty would try to throw either Gary or I off the cliff for it," he joked with a grin, heading off before the redhead could respond.

Dawn decided to ask a question of the two. "Why were you guys in Rota, anyways?"

"We were delivering some Evolutionary Stones to a shop there for our grandfather, Steven," May replied.

Gary grinned. "You mean old Kelso's shop?"

Max nodded. "That's the one!"

This caused Gary and Ash to grin. "Ash, didn't you buy a stone yesterday for Aer?"

Nodding, he replied, "Yup. Gave it to Aer before we left. A Thunder Stone for his Eevee."

May grinned a bit proudly. "That was likely our shipment, then. We were actually heading back to Pewter to pick up our next shipment order from our grandfather. We work as couriers for him."

Max nodded. "Yup, May loves traveling. Dad finally let me start tagging along to help, but my dream is to be a strong Pokémon battler like my dad."

The six teens, Ash, Gary, May, Max, Dawn, and Misty all started walking back towards the camp, talking as they did. Occasionally May shot Ash a glance, still not quite believing the events of the last ten minutes. '_That Skarmory nearly killed me. If it wasn't for that Aura Guardian that Max found… I wouldn't be here. Being saved by a heroic Aura Guardian. Sounds like a fairy tale when I think about it that way...' _She grinned to herself as the other spoke, learning that Dawn was a Pokémon Tactician and Misty was actually a trainer as well, having left her Pokémon in Cerulean City due to them mostly being Water-types.

Ash, on the other hand, had been mostly quiet during the walk back, thinking. '_I think this is the first time I've actually saved someone's life. I feel… good. I wonder if this is how dad felt when he helped people'_ he thought to himself with a small smile.

"Ashy-Boy, you going to answer the kid's question?" Gary asked, snapping him back to reality.

"Oh, what? Sorry, I was just thinking about something. What's the question?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Max adjusted his glasses and spoke. "I asked why you haven't evolved your Pikachu, as you did state you had purchased one of the Thunder Stones we delivered."

The three girls also glanced at Ash and Pikachu, curious as to the reason as well.

"Well, ya see, Pikachu just doesn't want to evolve. He's always been happy with how he is, and I completely accept that fact," he explained with a smile.

Pikachu also smiled and nodded. "Pika pika."

Dawn was the first to respond. "That's great, Ash. Pokémon sometimes perform differently when they evolve, and that can cause issues with battling at times. Some even hate evolving and try to avoid it at all costs, either due to fear or just a general desire to remain as they are. Take Piplup, for example," she started, causing her little Penguin Pokémon to puff out it's chest proudly. "While he's slightly weaker than a Prinplup or Empoleon in straight up combat, his speed allows him to fight with a different style completely. Plus, trainers underestimate him because he hasn't evolved. It's all tactics," she explained.

"An interesting, but incorrect, theory," Max stated while cleaning his glasses on his shirt. Dawn turned a glare at him as he continued. "Evolution is a natural part of Pokémon life, and it makes them stronger. Failing to evolve your Pokémon simply keeps them in a weakened state."

"I disagree," the blunette stated bluntly. "Unevolved Pokémon can win against evolved Pokémon, and vice versa. It's all a matter of finding your Pokémon's strong suit and capitalizing on it, which is what Tacticians do," she finished, continuing her glare at Max, who simply glared back. One could almost see the sparks flickering between their eyes.

Gary chuckled nervously as he moved between the two. "Alright you two, come on now. Just because we're different doesn't mean we should fight about it."

If the two heard him, they made no show of it, continuing to glare at each other around him, causing Gary to lower his head and slow down from walking between them.

May decided to change the subject. "So Misty, what did Riley mean you'd 'throw him or Gary off a cliff' earlier?"

The redhead blinked a bit, not sure how to answer the brunette. "I'm not sure, actually. Gary, do you know?"

Gary knew alright, he'd seen it enough whenever he talked with Dawn. For some unknown reason, Misty always cared when he talked to other girls, especially her sisters. And it normally made her angry. Why it was just him she seemed overprotective of, he didn't know. But he certainly wasn't about to point that out to the hothead redhead. "Haven't a clue, Misty," he replied casually.

By this point, they'd returned to camp and found that Riley, Lucario, Lucian, and Alakazam had finished packing up their stuff. "Ah, good, you six are back. May, Max, I take it you'll be joining us in our trip to Pewter City?" Riley asked, to which he received a pair of nods.

"Assuming it's alright with you all," May said.

Riley glanced around and asked "Any objections?" Receiving none, he grabbed his bag and began walking on their original path. "Alright then, with any luck, we should reach therein an hour or two."

* * *

Several hours later, the small group had made it to Pewter City and had rented four rooms at the local Inn, with two travelers to a room. Having left their stuff at their room for the night, May and Max went to the Pewter City Messenger station, a massive aviary-like building that normally housed many Flying-type Pokémon from the various regions. After checking in with the station manager, they were directed to a specific coop that housed their father's Swellow, a Normal/Flying-type from their home region of Hoenn.

What surprised them was the second Pokémon in the stall, a short green and white bipedal Pokémon.

"Kirlia!" Max cried, running over to hug his partner, who smiled. "What are you doing here?"

May smiled at her brother and Kirlia before moving to examine Swellow. Tied to his foot was a letter, that May took and read, while scratching Swellow's chin affectionately.

"To May and Max," she began. "Something's come up in Sinnoh, and our courier out there is unable to take delivery of a shipment of Moon Stones. So, your grandfather and I would like you to divert to Eterna City in Sinnoh to pick up the shipment for us before returning home. Your mother thought that, seeing as Max was planning on training when he returned, and that we're asking you to delay getting home, she asked Swellow to bring Kirlia out to Kanto. We're sorry for the change of plans, but we're out of alternatives. Your grandfather, mother and I are all quite proud of you and love you both. Let us know when you reach Sinnoh. Sincerely, Mom and Dad," she finished.

"So, we're heading to Sinnoh, then?" Max asked as he stood up, Kirlia standing next to his leg looking up at May.

"Seems that way. Dad and Grandpa need us out there, and besides," she said with a smile. "I've always wanted to visit Sinnoh!"

Adjusting his glasses with a grin, Max nodded. "Alright, but we'll need to find some warmer clothes. Sinnoh is much colder than Hoenn ever gets," he stated.

May's eyes shined at this realization. "That means we get to go SHOPPING!"

* * *

"I can't believe you left your scarf in Rota, Gary," Ash stated as the two wandered around the marketplace, looking for winter gear.

"Ashy-Boy, you didn't have to listen to my grandfather go on… and on… and ON, about everything little thing from Sinnoh Pokémon habitat habits to how much snow falls on each side of Mount Coronet… Combine that with all the blunt force trauma I've endured in the past few days from Misty? Yeah, you're lucky a scarf and gloves are all I need from the shop," he griped as he looked through the various handmade articles at people's stalls in the Pewter Market.

"Pika!" Glancing at the Electric-type, the two boys saw Pikachu holding up a scarf with a large pale blue midsection, along with jagged orange sections on either end. Pikachu's face was grinning mischievously, winking at Gary.

This caused Gary's eyes to bulge at the implications. "NO!" he shouted, causing some stares, even from Eevee and Ash. "Uh… No, I'm not wearing those colors. I-uh don't like them. Yeah, that's it," he stammered, causing Pikachu, Eevee, and Ash to all laugh loudly, causing more stares.

"What was that?" Ash asked between laughing bouts.

Getting defensive, Gary frowned. "What was what?" he asked, trying to play it down.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that it looks like something Misty would wear?"

Gary reddened and moved off with Eevee, looking for anything that wouldn't remind him of a certain redhead.

* * *

The Hoenn siblings entered the marketplace looking for winter clothes, much to the chagrin of Max, and the elation of May. '_Sure, playing courier for dad and grandpa doesn't leave me much time for myself, but the shooooooooopppppppppping…' _she thought with a content sigh of bliss.

As she dragged Max from stall to stall looking for winter gear, her shopaholic rampage was interrupted when she heard a loud shout, followed by laughing nearby.

Turning a glance to see what the fuss what about, Max saw his chance to escape. "I'm gonna go look at something, I'll catch up!" Managing to slip out of her iron grip, he darted into the crowd and freedom.

Glaring at his retreating form, May returned her attention to shopping. '_Little brat just doesn't appreciate shopping… Still, I suppose he's earned it after today. If he hadn't found Ash and Gary, I probably wouldn't be here at the moment.'_

She was snapped from her thoughts when she bumped into someone, nearly losing her balance and falling over in the process, only to have her hand caught to keep her upright.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and-"

"May?" Blinking, the brunette looked up and saw the same auburn eyes attached to the same body as the hand that was keeping her from falling for a second time that day. Realizing she was in yet another situation like the one earlier, she quickly regaining her balance, her face feeling as if it had taken an Overheat attack.

"Um… Thanks. Again, I mean," she said, scratching her head nervously.

Ash simply gave the brunette his trademark smile, Pikachu matching it. "No problem, May. You alright? Your face looks a little red. Are you sick?" he asked obliviously.

"Uh, don't worry. I'm fine. Th-thanks for asking," she stuttered out. '_My face feels like it's going to melt off. Is he really that dense? Arceus, this is so embarrassing.' _

Finally realizing that she was still holding the boy's hand, she quickly retracted hers, glancing around at the various sales in an effort to get her face to cool down.

"So, what brings you to the market?" the brunette asked him, trying to change the subject.

"Gary needed a scarf and gloves for Sinnoh. He left his back in Rota," Ash explained, causing May to pause, turning back to regard the boy.

"You guys are going to Sinnoh?" she asked, slightly worried she was now being stalked.

Ash continued to smile obliviously, nodding. "Yup. Riley, Gary and I are going there to help Lucian and Dawn with some problems. That's why they came to Rota, to get help from the Aura Guardians. Gary and I are coming along to finish our trials and become full Guardians," he supplied, smile never wavering.

'_Well, that's a relief that he's not stalking me at least. Not sure why I thought that of him, anyways. He seems genuinely sweet, if dense,'_ she thought to herself with a smile.

"What about Misty?" she asked him, causing him to scratch the side of his head.

"I'm not sure. I think everyone in the group is scared to tell her to go back to Rota, so I guess she's just going to travel with us. Not sure why, though."

The brunette shrugged to herself as she started browsing coats in one of the stalls they were nearby. She looked at a few of them in different colors, red, blue, orange, green, white. Finally she decided on a long red coat with white fluff along the bottom, the end of the sleeves, and collar. Satisfied, she purchased the coat for two silver pieces and continued along, finding a stall that sold bandanas. Inside, she found simply the most adorable light blue bandana, letting out a slight squeal at how much she loved it.

Until she saw the price. "Seven silver pieces?!" she blurted, much to the annoyance of the stall owner.

"It's made of one hundred percent imported Kalosian Silk!" he shouted, defending his high prices.

"Uh, I mean it's nice, but I'd like to eat tonight," she explained as she headed to another stall.

Little did she know, a certain raven-haired trainer and Electric-type watched the whole thing and one could nearly hear the gears begin turning.

* * *

"Alright Kirlia, let's get some training in!" shouted the now free sixteen-year old Hoenn boy, finding an open, if exceedingly rocky field on the outskirts of Pewter City. His faithful companion, Kirlia, followed right with him to their selected training field, eager to train with his partner again.

"Shall we start with your Psychic attack?" The boy asked.

"Kirl, Kirlia!" his companion responded as he prepared his attack.

Kirlia's eyes began glowing light blue as it focused its energy, releasing it in a large blue wave in front of it. Max watched with a large smile as he saw the various rocks, from pebbles to boulders in front of Kirlia launched forward.

"Awesome! Now let's try Magical Leaf."

Keeping his eyes blue, Kirlia brought his hands above him for a moment before aiming them forward and firing a series of green leaves at one of the boulders, destroying it in seconds.

That's it, Kirlia! You've been practicing, haven't you?" he asked, to which Kirlia nodded with a smile. "All that training we did before I left paid off, then! A bit more practice and you'll be able to beat anyone," he encouraged the Emotion Pokémon.

"That's assuming you two can fight together properly."

Turning, Max saw the blunette and her Piplup approaching their training area.

Mildly annoyed, Max asked "What do you want?"

She simply smirked. "Piplup and I were out for a walk when we saw you two out here. I will admit, your Kirlia is well trained, and likely strong, but there's more to a Pokémon battle than just strength," she stated matter-of-factly.

Crossing his arms, Max simply smirked. "Kirlia and I could take you two any day!" he stated confidently, his Kirlia mirroring his moves by crossing his arms.

Turning a smile to her companion sitting on her shoulder, the blunette said "Well Piplup, I believe we've just been challenged. What do you think?"

Piplup's response was to leap down in front of her, chest puffed out confidently. "Piplup! Pip piplup pip!" He was as proud as they come, and no boy from Hoenn with seaweed for hair was going to outdo him and Dawn.

The smirking blunette took her place behind her partner and stared across the field at the confident Max and Kirlia.

"So, shall we begin?" she asked with a confident smile.

* * *

Lucian, Riley, Lucario, and Alakazam, were walking along one of the roads near Pewter City, having left the teens in the city after sorting rooms at the Inn.

"So, tomorrow we'll head to Pallet Town via Route 2, charter a ship to Cinnabar, then to Kin Island, and finally Canalave City," said the purple haired Tactician.

Riley nodded, replying "If we set out early tomorrow morning, we should reach Viridian City by late afternoon, assuming nothing goes wrong in Viridian Forest. Then a day to Pallet Town, and we should be on a boat by day's end."

Nodding, Lucian continued walking with his hands clasped behind his back. "I assume Miss Waterflower will be joining us?" he asked with an amused smirk.

Riley scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh… I can't exactly tell her she can't go to Sinnoh… I mean, do -you- want to tell her she can't go to Sinnoh of her own accord?" he asked the Tactician, to which he laughed.

"I believe that won't be necessary. Besides, she may come in handy once we reach Sinnoh. And if all else fails, she can tell her that Galactic are targeting young Mister Oak," he joked, causing a small chuckle from Riley.

"In all seriousness, I have no issue with her presence, so long as she doesn't cause any issues with Eastern Si-" Lucian was cut off by the sound of a nearby explosion.

"Alright, Bubble Beam!" they heard a confident blunette shout, turning their attention to the ongoing battle nearby that they had stumbled upon.

Lucian grinned confidently. "It would appear my apprentice has found a sparring partner. Have you seen a Tactician right, Sir Riley?" he asked with mild curiosity as he turned his attention to the battle.

"I recall Aer and Ash battling occasionally, but he mentioned he only had a few books," Riley replied, crossing his arms to watch.

Lucian's grin widened. "Well, you're in for a treat!"

* * *

'_This boy and his Kirlia are good,' _Dawn thought to herself after the latest clash of attacks. Smiling to herself, she then thought '_But I'm better.' _

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

The small Penguin Pokémon began focusing it's power causing him to take on a blue glow, raising his arms above his head and creating a massive whirlpool of water above his head.

Max's eyes opened wide at the sight of the attack, quickly shouting "Kirlia, grab it with Psychic!"

As Kirlia's eyes turned blue, the waters above Piplup also began glowing blue.

"Piplup, jump up into the whirlpool and swim around it!" she shouted, clenching her fists.

Jumping up into the whirlpool, Piplup began swimming around and around inside of it, speeding the whirlpool's rotation up. Kirlia continued focusing his power on the whirlpool, straining to slow down the whirlpool against Piplup's new current.

Smiling, Dawn then cried "Now!", causing Piplup to shoot out of the whirlpool directly at Kirlia, having used the whirlpool to speed him up in an improvised Aqua Jet-like attack.

Max's jaw dropped and shouted "Dodge it!" towards Kirlia, who was still holding the whirlpool with it's mind. Unfortunately, with his concentration elsewhere, he took a flying Piplup headfirst to his chest.

"Nice work Piplup!"

"Kirlia! Are you alright?"

The Emotion Pokémon struggled to it's feet shakily, but nodded. "Kirlia!" it stated.

"Alright, let's end this! Magical Leaf!"

Nodding again, he focused and fired off a barrage of green leaves towards the Penguin Pokémon.

"Piplup, counter with Bide!" Piplup clenched his fins and began glowing white, bracing himself.

As the leaves began colliding against the blue Pokémon, Dawn held her breath, hoping her gamble would pay off.

'_Come on, Piplup,' _she thought to herself. '_Just manage to withstand the Magical Leaf attack and we can finish this fight!'_

* * *

Lucian smiled to himself, turning slightly to Riley. "She's brilliant, but she prefers to take some risks with her battle style. She has a habit of trying to show off," he told him, still studying the battle earnestly with Alakazam and Lucario.

"She's in a corner at the moment. If her Piplup can't withstand that attack…" Riley trailed off as Piplup began to shine from the attack.

* * *

"This is it, Piplup! Now!" the blunette cried, and her starter unleashed all the built up energy in a massive green-blue blast towards Kirlia. Before Max could even shout out a counter attack, Kirlia was immersed in the wave and blasted backwards several feet, laying on the ground, fainted.

"Kirlia! No!" Max rushed to Kirlia's side, dropping to his side as Piplup and Dawn walked up. "Well fought, you two. You both have the talent, but what you need is to think about the battle more," she explained with a warm smile. Max turned a glare to her. "You just got lucky with that Bide attack. We'll beat you our way!" he exclaimed defiantly.

Dawn's expression turned to a contemptuous smirk. "If you say so. But I still believe that focusing on a Pokémon's natural strengths can top evolutionary power," she stated with a nod.

"Just because you and your Piplup are afraid that you can't handle the increased strength doesn't mean we can't! And I intend to prove that power can come out on top!" he shouted, causing the blunette to take a step back, shocked expression quickly making way for anger.

"We'll see about THAT!"

* * *

Lucian shook his head with a long suffering smile. "She also doesn't like backing down from a challenge. I have a feeling those two are going to be rivals if they ever meet up again."

Riley and Lucario nodded. "_I agree, Sir Lucian," _Lucario stated telepathically. "_The both of them firmly believe their own views, and their personalities cause those views to clash. Rather violently, it seems,"_ he finished.

"I just hope they can put their differences aside to learn from each other," Riley finished.

Lucian just chuckled lightly. "I just hope the boy realizes that he's made a dangerous rival in that young blunette. He's in for a rude awakening when he figures out how determined Dawn can get," he finished with a smile. "Absolutely no idea…"

* * *

_So, there you are. New plans are made, a new rivalry forms, and the beginnings of relationships begin to form. Hope you all enjoyed it, reviews and comments are appreciated and I'll see you next time!_


	6. One World, Four Viewpoints

_Evening all. Chapter Six is up, and at the suggestion of AquaThunderKnight17, I've made a bit of a change to the story format. Hopefully it'll be a bit easier to understand. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favs everyone. Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon, ect, ect. GO FORTH AND READETH!  
_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Drapion, standby for battle!"

In the middle of an abandoned field near Veilstone City stood a Drapion, the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon, a massive purple scorpion-like creature sporting two powerful arms and a tail, with powerful claws at the end of it's arms and tail. Four short white-tipped legs kept him off the ground and the large pair of fangs that framed his large mouth only added to his intimidating appearance. Clacking his mass claws together, he let loose a powerful roar.

His trainer was very similar to the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon, being dressed in a set of dark grey pants and a open knee-length dark purple coat with black sleeves. He kept his purple hair a bit longer than most, falling to around his chin. A cold glare constantly graced his face, his intense onyx-colored eyes devoid of any cheer. In contrast to his Drapion, he stood silently waiting for their opponents to react.

Standing across the field, opposite this pair were another pair, trainer and Pokémon. The first was a man, slightly taller than the teen he was facing. His cobalt blue hair was styled into a pair of sharp horns, appearing to have a crescent moon resting points-up on his head. He wore a gray set of pants and shirt, complimented with a white vest with a large, stylized 'G' on it. Sharp, cobalt-colored eyes made sure not to miss a single detail, while his partner stood at the ready by his side.

His Pokémon was a large teal-colored bipedal frog who simply glared at the Drapion across the field. While standing at around the same height as Drapion, it's body shape was very different, standing in a slouched, humanoid stance. A large, bulbous red vocal sac sat below it's chin, expanding and contracting as he breathed. A pointed blue head complimented the two red spikes jutting out of it's fists. Toxicroak, the Toxic Mouth Pokémon.

The blue-haired human was the first to speak up. "You honestly thought your little band of renegades could pull off something that overt without us finding out?" he asked with a smirk.

His purple-haired opponent simply snorted, before calling out "Cross Poison, go!"

Crossing it's claws in front of him, Drapion caused them to begin glowing purple. He then uncrossed them in a slashing motion, launching a giant purple X of poison towards Toxicroak.

"Toxicroak, counter that fool with X-Scissor!" Commander Saturn shouted.

Crossing his own arms, the red spikes on Toxicroak's fists began glowing blue as it charged it's Bug-type move, before leaping towards Drapion's attack. Slashing the purple X with his own attack, the resulting explosion launched him backwards in a flip, landing gracefully with his arms held out on either side.

"Now Sludge Bomb, let's go!"

Opening his mouth wide, Toxicroak fired a series of brown globs of sludge towards Drapion, to which he simply crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the sludge.

The purple-haired trainer smirked. "Pathetic. Drapion, Night Slash!"

The Ogre Scorpion's claws began glowing deep red for a moment before slashing, firing off a dark purple crescent towards Toxicroak with another roar.

Saturn's eyes widened slightly, and shouted "Dodge it, then counter with Sludge Bomb!"

Jumping above the Night Slash attack, Toxicroak opened his mouth and began firing more globs of sludge towards Drapion, which caused Drapion's trainer to give a predatory smile.

"Drapion, Pin Missile!" he called out, causing Drapion to bring his claws together and focus his energy, making them glow. As the sludge fired from Toxicroak neared Drapion, he brought his claws apart, firing off a series of small, harpoon-shaped projectiles towards the sludge, creating a massive black cloud above the field.

Coughing, Saturn began waving his hand to try to clear his vision. "Toxicroak, where are they?!" he shouted. "Toxi!" came the uncertain reply. As the second ticked by, Saturn became angrier and angrier, until finally the field had clear to reveal that he and Toxicroak were alone.

Blinking, he stated simply "They got away."

Saturn's scream of frustration was heard all the way back in Veilstone City.

* * *

"Pika chupi, pikapi."

"Yeah, I know Pikachu. Not sure why I did either."

Staring at the blue bandana in his hands, he wondered yet again why he bought it exactly.

~Flashback~

_May glided from stall to stall until she found simply the most adorable light blue bandana in a Kalosian-inspired shop, letting out a slight squeal at how much she loved it. Until she saw the price. "Seven silver pieces?!" she blurted, much to the annoyance of the stall owner. _

"_It's made of one hundred percent imported Kalosian Silk!" he shouted, defending his high prices. _

"_Uh, I mean it's nice, but I'd like to eat tonight," she explained as she headed to another stall._

_Little did she know, a certain raven-haired trainer and Electric-type watched the whole thing and one could nearly hear the gears begin turning._

"_Excuse me, sir?" The Kalosian turned back to the front of his stall and saw a young man in a gray pants and shirt, covered with blue tunic, unkempt black hair, and a Pikachu on his shoulder. Taking a quick glance around to make sure a certain brunette had taken her shopaholic rampage elsewhere, he turned back to the shopkeeper. _

"_I was wondering about that blue handkerchief she was interested in earlier. Is it possible I could get a discount?" the teen asked._

_Sneering, the Kalosian looked the boy up and down. "What could possibly make me do that for you?" he asked._

_Frowning, he just said "I figured I might as well try, at least."_

"_Tell me something, lad, why do you want it to begin with?" the shopkeeper asked, suddenly curious despite himself._

_After thinking for a moment, Ash just shrugged, sighing. The Kalosian also noticed his face had reddened slightly as well. "I'm not sure. I just felt like doing something nice for her," he replied._

_Smirking, the shopkeeper rested his elbows onto the front of his stall. "And why's that?" he asked, slowly growing more interested in the boy. _

_Again he shrugged. "She's had a hard day, I guess." "Pikachu," his companion agreed._

"_You can say that again." Turning, the shopkeeper saw a brunette boy with an Eevee walking up. It appeared the boys knew each other. _

"_Ashy-Boy here's too modest, considering he saved the poor girl from falling off a cliff this morning," the brunette stated with a grin, causing his raven-haired friend to redden._

"_That's what Aura Guardians do, Gary," he defended himself._

'_So, Aura Guardians. Well, the boy's heart's in the right place, I just don't think his head's caught up yet,' the shopkeeper thought to himself with a slowly growing smile._

"_Alright lad," he finally said, gaining the attention of the two teens. "Seeing as you're an Aura Guardian and all, Three silver and I'll let ya take it off my hands."_

~End Flashback~

"Pikapika! Pika chupi pikapi." Pikachu had hopped onto the bench the two of them were sitting on and was attempting to cheer his trainer on.

"You really think I should give it to her, guys?" he asked his companions, Pikachu, Gary, and Eevee.

"Well Ashy-Boy, that depends on your intentions. 'Cause this, for you, seems like a lot," Gary replied.

"What do you mean?" the oblivious teen asked his friend, causing Gary to roll his eyes.

"Come on, Ash, you're telling me you don't realize what you're doing?" he asked in disbelief.

Ash just shrugged. "Uh… Should I? I mean, am I missing something?" he asked with a dumbfounded expression.

Facepalming, Gary shook his head. "You are hopeless. You do realize that, after saving the girl's life, now you've bought the girl a gift, something that you knew, you _knew_ she wanted. That doesn't give you any clue?" he asked the dense boy.

Ash just shook his head obliviously, to which Gary groaned and shook his head again. "Ashy-Boy, you've got to be the densest individual on the face of this planet. I'll leave you and Pikachu to figure it out. I need to keep moving before Misty finds me."

Getting up, he patted Ash on the shoulder. "Take it easy, Ashy-Boy. Happy soul-searching."

Now alone with Pikachu, Ash began thinking about what Gary said. Pikachu took the opportunity to hop into Ash's lap, which got Ash to idly pet him as he lost himself in thought.

'_How else could that be taken? Sure, I saved her, but that's just what I'm supposed to do. Aura Guardians help people. I got gifts for my friends all the time back in Rota. Well… I don't think I ever spent three silver on a handkerchief before. Maybe that's what he meant. Still, I could tell she wanted it, even if she thought the price was outrageous._

'_What did he mean by intentions? When someone gives someone a gift, it's nothing major, right? Unless… Well… I -did- spend quite a bit on it… My intentions? She wanted it, so I got it for her. I guess I just wanted to be nice.'_

As the sun began to set, he finally realized he'd spent most of his day sitting with his sleeping partner in his lap, petting him with one hand and looking at the bandana in his other.

'_We're leaving Kanto by tomorrow night. She and Max were just supposed to come with us to Pewter City, so they're probably going home from here, wherever home is for them. That means I should probably give it to her tonight.'_

Taking one last look at the setting sun, he picked Pikachu up and started off towards the Inn, looking for a certain brunette with sapphire eyes.

* * *

May eventually found herself nearing the edge of Pewter City with her shopping bags, having come from the marketplace further in the heart of the city. As she got closer to the Inn they were all staying in, she saw a small crowd of people looking at something. She also saw water shooting into the air.

After a bit of pushing, she made it closer to the center of the crowd and saw Dawn and Piplup giving what appeared to be a small performance.

"Alright Piplup, let's cool them off! Whirlpool Shower!" the blunette shouted with a grin.

Piplup nodded and began forming a large sized Whirlpool of water above him before leaping up into it. A few seconds later, a series of small bubbles came out of the top of the whirlpool, exploding and lightly misting the surrounding crowd, much to their delight. The entire crowd, including May, were amazed by the attack's beauty.

"Awesome Piplup! Now, use Bubble Beam to propel yourself into the air!" Dawn commanded, clearly happy with Piplup's performance.

Piplup, at Dawn's orders, caused the Whirlpool to detonate into a very light mist before firing his Bubble Beam attack directly into the ground, using it to propel himself upwards high above the crowd. "Piplup-lup-lup!"

May's mouth had dropped open in awe at this point. '_I never knew Pokémon could use their attacks in such beautiful ways like that. I thought they just fought to prove they were stronger,' _she thought to herself as she continued to watch the pair.

Everything was going according to Dawn's plan so far, so she figured she'd give their secret weapon one more shot. "Alright Piplup… Let's end this with Counter Shield!"

Piplup shot a look at his trainer and saw the slightly uncertain smile she had on before he began to spin while falling, firing out Bubble Beam in all directions as it spun. Everything continued to go correctly, with the bubbles popping and lightly spraying the crowd until the last few feet, when Piplup became dizzy and crashed into the ground hard, much to the horror of Dawn.

"Piplup!" she cried as she rushed over to check on the Penguin Pokémon. "Are you alright?"

"Pip...lup," it stated weakly, spirals in his eyes as he twitched slightly, still on the ground.

"What a waste of time." "Right? She should learn not to push her Pokémon so hard." "Maybe if she knew how to battle, she'd be able to not look like an idiot!"

Dawn ignored the growing string of insults from the dispersing crowd, instead carefully picking Piplup up and cradling him. "Piplup…" she said sadly.

Opening his eyes weakly, Piplup gave a small smile. "Piplup, pip," it reassured the blunette girl, who was nearing tears by this point.

"I'm so sorry, Piplup. This was all my fault. I should have realized that after our battle earlier, you wouldn't be at your best. I'm sorry I pushed you," the girl told her partner, which caused Piplup to hug her.

'_Wow. Those two sure are close. Maybe… maybe there's more to people's relationship with Pokémon then just as tools," _May thought to herself as the last of the crowd had gone on with their lives.

Dawn was about to head off towards the Inn when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw the smiling face of May next to her.

"That was awesome Dawn and Piplup! I never knew Pokémon could pull off shows like that before," May told the pair.

Blinking at the compliment, Dawn finally smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. Piplup and I worked really hard on that, but… well… our last combination there, Counter Shield, we've never been able to perfect it. And after our earlier battle… I shouldn't have pushed Piplup so hard," she told May with a sad smile.

May, however, was undeterred, continuing on. "Growing up with my parents, most of the Pokémon I was around were all just mostly used for delivering messages or security from bandits. But, you and Piplup look so close, just like Ash and his Pikachu. I never realized that they can be companions, too," the brunette stated with a sheepish smile.

Dawn smiled and nodded her head a bit. "It's not uncommon for people to still think of Pokémon as tools. But they're so much more. That's probably why your brother and I don't get along," she finished.

May raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean, Dawn?" she asked.

"Max, from what I gather, is simply interested in strength. He pays no attention to how a Pokémon fights in their current state, simply looking to make them stronger instead of embracing the Pokémon's natural abilities, relying solely on power to overcome. Piplup and I went against him and his Kirlia earlier, and despite his strength, our tactics won us the match."

May thought back on all the times she saw her brother with Kirlia, and while she knew the blunette was right in one way, she knew her brother cared for Kirlia.

"Our father is a strong trainer in Petalburg City, where we come from in Hoenn. It's his dream to become as strong as father is, but I know those two really care about each other," she told the Sinnish teen, defending her little brother.

Dawn simply shrugged. "Either way, he still has a lot to learn if he wants to beat Piplup and I. There's more to battle than simply shouting commands and overpowering your opponent," she replied.

After a moment, May decided to ask "Hey Dawn? Why did you want to become a trainer?"

Blinking, Dawn thought about it for a moment before answering. "My mother was a well known Pokémon Tactician when she was younger. Her Glameow and Umbreon were well known for being extremely hard to beat, and her reputation for being a master Tactician was hard earned. Growing up with stories like that, it was a no brainer to become a Tactician like she did," she told the brunette with a grin, one matched by her Pokémon Piplup.

May thought about this for a while, while Dawn patiently stood next to her. After a moment, she finally looked at Dawn with an uncertain expression. "Thanks, Dawn. This has been an interesting discussion. I'm going to head back to the Inn, want to tag along?"

"Piplup and I will catch up later, May. No need to worry!" the blunette exclaimed happily.

* * *

Max and Kirlia had since returned to their room they were sharing with May, who was still out for the moment. The two had returned after their loss to the Sinnish blunette and her Piplup, Kirlia recuperating in his bed while Max was sulking.

'_That was terrible. She completely destroyed us!' _he thought to himself sourly. '_If we can't even beat some girl from Sinnoh, how are we going to become stronger? We trained so hard to be strong, too.'_

Feeling depressed, Max began staring out the window, taking an occasional glance at the sleeping Kirlia. He eventually felt a smile form on his face as he recalled all the other times they had gotten knocked down only to get back up and become stronger.

'_This isn't me. We never gave up after getting beaten before. We'll just have to train even harder! Kirlia and I will show her that we can win, our way.' _

Max was interrupted from his thoughts by the opening of the door to their room. Turning, he saw May walk in, looking distracted, deep in thought.

"Hey May, how'd shopping go?" Much to Max's surprise, May simply walked over to her bed and sat down, staring at the floor. "You alright sis?"

"Huh?" she said distractedly, finally looking up. "Oh, hey Max. Sorry, I guess I was a little lost in thought," she replied, scratching her head sheepishly.

"Anything I can help with?" he asked, to which she shook her head.

"No, just something I've been thinking about today."

Max was about to ask what was on her mind when a knock at the door came. Raising an eyebrow, May went to answer it, opening the door to reveal a nervous-looking raven-haired trainer and his Pikachu.

"Uh, hey May. Have you… got a minute?" he asked uncertainly, shifting from foot to foot.

The brunette smiled warmly and nodded. "Sure. What do you need, Ash?"

"I was…" he started before going silent again.

"Pikachu pikapi," his partner encouraged him, clenching one of his little yellow paws. Looking a bit less nervous, though still far from comfortable, Ash nodded and continued.

"Well, I was wonder if I could talk to you for a bit. You know, before our group leaves for Sinnoh. That is, if that's okay with you," he added quickly, trying not to trip over his tongue.

Chuckling lightly at the teen's nervousness, May nodded and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her to keep Max from listening in. "Sure. I actually wanted to ask you something too. Want to take a walk or something?" she suggested.

* * *

Sitting outside on the balcony of the Inn, located on the second level and offering a spectacular view of the dusk sky, were the two teenagers and Pikachu, just relaxing as they both tried to figure out how they wanted to word their statements.

Gathering up her courage, the brunette was the first to speak up. "So, how long have you and Pikachu been together?" she asked out of curiosity.

Not quite expecting the question, Ash did a quick calculation in his head. "Uh… Around eight years or so now?" he said, looking at Pikachu, who nodded in confirmation. "We were paired when I entered my third year of training."

"So you two have been through a lot, then? You seem really close, after all," the brunette observed.

Ash and Pikachu both chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the backs of their heads. "Yeah, well in the beginning, Pikachu and I… We got off on the wrong foot. When we first started training with each other, Pikachu wouldn't listen to a word I said, he didn't follow me when I went somewheres…" He reddened a bit. "At one point, I even tied a rope around him and dragged him around," he revealed, chuckling nervously.

May giggled as well, just picturing the scene, a young boy with messy black hair dragging his rodent around with a rope. "That must have gone well," she said in between laughs.

"Not really. Apparently, Pikachu have the ability to shoot lightning through any ropes connecting to it. I think Scholar Oak called it 'Con-duck-shum'? Anyways, we were pitting against Gary and his Eevee one day in training, and we kinda got destroyed," he said with a small smile, one shared by Pikachu as they remembered the memory.

"Pika, pikachupi, pi pikapi," the mouse agreed with a nod of his head.

May raised an eyebrow at this. "You two are happy that you lost?" she asked, causing a chuckle from the two.

"No, we were annoyed with it at the time. But we decided losing to Gary and Eevee was worse than putting our pride aside and working with each other. After that, we trained day and night, trying to get used to each other's style of combat. And a week later, we managed to win against them in a rematch," he finished with a large, proud grin.

Smiling, May nodded. "That must have felt good, after losing like that."

"Yeah, it was great. After that, we just got closer and closer. Pikachu's probably closer to a brother than Riley, at times when I think about it. He's always so busy and living in his shadow growing up was annoying sometimes," he stated staring at the ground as he idly petted Pikachu.

'_Why'd I just tell her that, anyways?' _he thought to himself, suddenly realizing he'd been ranting about his past. But to his surprise, when he stole a glance to his left where the brunette sat, she had a warm smile on her face and looked as if she was interested.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I'm ungrateful for Riley. He's my brother and I love him, but…" Sighing, he trailed off, to which May nodded.

"I have a little brother, so I have some idea of how you feel. Honestly, growing up with my dad, Pokémon were either used for courier duties or defense against bandits. I never really met the Pokémon when I was little, all I knew was my dad spent so much time with them, he never really had time for Max and I. I guess that's why I became a courier for my grandfather's business rather than become a trainer, I wanted to travel around," she explained, looking a bit more nervous with the topic.

Silence fell upon the pair for a bit before she finally worked up the courage to continue. "Hey Ash? Do you… think I could become a trainer if I tried?" she asked timidly, face growing slightly red.

Smiling, Ash nodded. "Of course. All you need to do is find a Pokémon out in the wild and convince it that the two of you would become great partners, right Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" his partner agreed with him, still enjoying the petting he was receiving.

"Um… How would I go about doing that, exactly?"

"Well, sometimes feeding a Pokémon will make them follow you, helping hurt Pokémon also is possible. Some breeders train them to follow new trainers just starting out. Others will follow people who show their strength in battle. It all depends on the Pokémon," he explained with a smile.

May thought on this for a bit. "Um… Could you, maybe… Show me how on your travels?" she asked timidly, which caused Ash to redden slightly in the faint evening light.

"Uh, well, our group are going to Sinnoh soon, and I don't know where you and Max are heading next, so…"

Smiling, May then told the boy "Actually, one of our couriers in Sinnoh is out of commision for now, so we're supposed to head to Sinnoh to pick up grandfather's shipment of Moon Stones. So, I was wondering if we could go with you guys to Sinnoh, seeing as you're going anyways."

Ash felt a strange, foreign sensation spreading through him when he heard this, before thinking back to the reason he wanted to speak to her in the first place. '_If she comes with us, I can give her the gift some other time,' _he attempted to rationalize to himself, looking for a reason to put it off.

"I'll talk to Riley later about it. I don't see any issue with it personally," he informed the girl, much to her relief.

"Awesome. Thank you very much, Ash, I appreciate it," she told the boy with a warm smile. He also thought her cheeks were slightly pinker than normal, but that could have just been the evening light.

"So, what'd you want to talk about before I got us off topic?" she asked, now happy that her worrying was for nothing. Thrown off track again, Ash quickly debated giving her the bandana for a moment before deciding against it, waiting till he felt more confident.

"Uh… I was just wondering… Hmm, nevermind, it's not important right now," he lied, trying to placate the brunette. He succeeded, as she nodded and turned back out to watch the night sky.

'_I've got to give it to her eventually, especially after spending three silver on it. Eh, I can give it to her tomorrow, maybe,' _ Ash thought to himself.

'_Well, that's a relief. I'm glad he's willing to help me learn how to train Pokémon, that's really nice of him, considering he just met me today. Come to think of it, he did save my life, kept me from falling earlier in the market, and now this? I really must be dreaming after today,' _May thought to herself, blushing lightly again.

* * *

_So, Chapter Six is done and you're still here! Yay! Currently I'll be focusing on the primary two couples, AshXMay and DawnXMax, but I will try to keep the other four relevant as I go. I've also got some ideas for the BrainXBrawn rivalry, but I'm open to more if you all have them. I can't guarantee I'll use them, but I'm open to hearing them. As always, Comments, Reviews, Feedback, and follows/faves are greatly appreciated. Have a good night all!_


	7. Fun in the Forest

_Evening all, sorry for the long gap in posts. Been really busy lately, working on my GED, I've been sick for the past few days, ect. Anyways, Chapter seven is up, and for reference, I'll be using Pokéarth off if you're interested in what Map I'm working off. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Setting, ect.  
_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

In the early morning hours before the sun rose above the still quiet Pewter City, Lucian could be found sitting in a chair on the balcony of the Inn, lost in one of his books while simply enjoying the crisp morning air. Alakazam sat by his trainer, continuously bending and unbending his spoons with his mind while pondering his own strategies.

As he read his book, he became aware of a certain blunette standing in the doorway to the balcony, Piplup clinging to the back of her head. Smiling lightly he told the girl "You're up early today, you two. What's on your mind?"

Moving to stand by the railing, she looked out towards the still sleeping city, sighing lightly while Piplup hopped onto the railing. "Piplup and I had a battle with Max yesterday. We won, but it was only barely," she said, trailing off as she continued to stare off towards the impending sunrise.

"Let me guess, you finished by having Piplup use Bide against his Kirlia's Magical Leaf," he stated with a smirk, causing the girl to turn around shocked.

"H-how…?" she started before being cut off by her mentor.

"Did I know that? Sir Riley, Lucario, Alakazam and I watched your battle yesterday. Needless to say, I was impressed by your battle, although I still believe you put too much emphasis upon showing off. His Kirlia was well trained, and if you continue to battle with him, you and Piplup will both have to adapt," he told the two, having closed his book.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously. "All he cares about it power and charging headfirst into battle. What would I have to adapt for?"

"Dawn, just as we specialize in using tactics, combinations, and speed to fight, he focuses on raw power and strength. In a straight up battle, assuming you can remain one step ahead of your opponent and retain control of the battle flow, a Tactician will come out on top. But if you lose that edge, his raw strength approach will overpower your Piplup," he explained to the girl.

"You and Piplup won simply because you caught him off guard several times with your combinations and use of Bide," he continued, "But now that he's seen those, he'll be able to create counters for them. The more you two battle, the more he'll learn from your battle style, adapting pieces of it into his own."

The blunette shook her head. "Besides the fact that we're leaving for Sinnoh soon and likely won't be battling again, he's too focused on his own path to pick up anything from me," she stated simply, looking back at her mentor, who smirked at her declaration.

"Are you so sure of that that you're willing to bet your next battle on it?" he asked her with slight amusement.

"Next battle seems a bit premature, seeing as we're heading back to Sinnoh tonight," she retorted, crossing her arms.

Lucian simply smiled. "Riley has informed me that Max and his sister have requested to accompany us to Sinnoh. They apparently have business there, and as a result will be traveling with us for foreseeable future," he informed the teen, who now wore a shocked expression.

"He's coming _with us_?!" she blurted, nearly causing Piplup to fall off the railing from her reaction.

Lucian's smile widened as he watched her outburst, inwardly enjoying the shocked expression on his young pupil's face. "Indeed. So, I ask you again. Are you willing to bet your next battle will go the same? That Max and Kirlia won't strive to improve themselves in order to win? How would you have reacted after a loss like that?"

Dawn thought to herself for a moment, glancing at the still slightly annoyed Piplup. "We'd… we'd probably try to become faster and better... maybe study different techniques…" she said reluctantly. "You think he'd really try to use my style against me?" she asked, now looking more unsure than earlier.

Leaning back into his chair, Lucian folded his hands and told the girl "Whether he uses your precise style is unknown. One thing at the very least, they'll be ready for the tricks you already used. Piplup's Bide and your… 'Whirlpool Catapult'... You'll need to be careful about how you use them from here on out," he told her with a thoughtful smile.

"Well… Piplup and I were working on a new combo, but we haven't managed to perfect it quite yet," she admitted, wringing her hands nervously.

"That being?" he inquired curiously.

"I call it Counter Shield. The idea of it is to have Piplup use Bubble Beam defensively by firing it while spinning, creating a barrier of bubbles. The problem is Piplup can't handle the amount of rotations without getting too dizzy to complete it. We've been trying to work on endurance, but we just…" she trailed off with a sigh.

"So it's physical training you and Piplup need help with, then?" Lucian asked her, an idea slowly forming in his mind. One that would help her and Piplup, but would likely infuriate them at the same time.

Frowning, Dawn nodded a little. "Yeaaah… Lucian, why do you have that 'you're going to hate this idea' look on your face?" she asked him, even more nervous than before.

Lucian gave the teen a grin. "Well, the way I see it, you've got three main choices. One, continue training with Piplup until you two master this. Two, we're traveling with a trio of Aura Guardians, a group renowned for their fighting abilities. They'd probably be willing to assist you in your training. And three…" he said, trailing off as he watched the sun finally rise, only causing Dawn to worry more.

"And the third?" she asked hesitantly.

"The third, and the course of action most likely to assist you due to similar skill levels and expertise would be to ask Max to assist you," he told her, bracing himself for the impending reaction.

"_WHAT?!_"

* * *

May found herself in a dark and foreboding landscape, the edges of her vision clouded by what she could only describe as an oily border, disorienting her. She looked around frantically trying to make out her surroundings.

'_I know this place… This is the cliff from earlier.'_

She recognized this place as the cliff she nearly fell off the previous day, except much darker than it was when she was there. Max wasn't with her, she also noticed.

Suddenly her eyes widened as she heard the screech of a Skarmory. Turning quickly, she saw the Armor Bird Pokémon flying directly towards her, razor-sharp talons extended towards her.

Locked where she stood, all she could do was close her eyes as the Steel/Flying type got got closer and closer. '_This is it,'_ she thought solemnly to herself.

The last thing she heard was the screech of the Armor Bird Pokémon right near her, before the last bits of her dream were obliterated, the girl now sitting upright in her bed.

'_Where am I?'_ she thought to herself in panic as she shivered, looking around to get her bearings. '_This is my inn room. Uh… Pewter City. Max and I arrived here yesterday after meeting...' _

Her train of thought broke as the events of yesterday all came crashing back to her. Max and her waking up and traveling towards Pewter City. The Skarmory that knocked her off the cliff. Ash saving her. Meeting their group and making it to Pewter City. The discussion she has with Ash last night.

Looking down, she found her night clothes clinging to her from sweat. '_From the nightmare, no doubt,'_ she thought to herself as she glanced around her room, noticing Max was already gone. Judging by the sun, it was still relatively early in the morning, likely just after sunrise.

'_Well, no time like the present,'_ she thought as she got up and began getting dressed, considering after that dream she wasn't likely to get anymore sleep. Putting on her red travel shirt, baggy dark blue shorts, light Hoenn boots and her hair styled in it's usual reverse-V shape, with the rest tied up in her red handkerchief. The symbol of Petalburg was embroidered on it, a pair of rings, mostly black in color with purple sections dominating the outer third opposite each other. Connecting the two rings was a small straight section.

'_Alright, ready for the day,' _she thought with a small smile, still shaking off the final remnants of sleep from her head. As she made her way down the halls towards the main entrance of the inn, she spotted Ash, Pikachu, Gary, and Eevee talking with each other in the dining area, the four of them eating some berries from a basket.

Ash was wearing his gray, baggy pants and shirt along with his blue tunic. His dark blue cloak was on his shoulders, hood down, while Gary sat in similar gray pants, but with a purple shirt with sleeves rolled up, along with a simple black vest. Gary's own gray-brown cloak was also down.

"Morning guys!" she shouted with a smile as she approached the pair, gaining the attention of the group as she sat down next to Ash at their table. "Sleep good?"

The four of them shot her a smile, with Ash pushing the basket towards the brunette. "I slept okay, we're just eating before we head out," the raven-haired teen told her, face covered with berry juice.

Gary smirked. "I'm eating. Ash is inhaling. That's your eighth Sitrus berry, Ashy-Boy," he said.

May giggled to herself lightly as she grabbed an Oran berry of her own, tossing it into her mouth with a single bite, quickly followed by a Pecha berry and a few Lum berries in quick succession. As her breakfast continued on with other native Kantonese berries, she eventually became aware of the other brunette staring at her in shock, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

"Is something wrong, Gary? Do I have something on my face?" she asked checking if any bits of berry were stuck there, causing him to shake his head and drop it to the table.

"Just never thought I'd meet another person who could match Ash's Munchlax-like eating habits," he told the girl, causing both her and Ash to redden.

"Tell me about it. She's like this at home, too." Turning, the three teens saw Max approaching dressed in his green shirt, gray vest, and brown pants as usual. His spotless glasses flashed as he approached, grabbing a seat next to Gary. He also sported the same symbol on May's handkerchief on his vest, embroidered on the back and left breast. At his side was his Kirlia.

"She's been like this since we were both little," he continued, much to the annoyance of his sister. "You should see her near a bowl of ramen. I've seen Mightyena with better table manners!"

"Keep it up, Max, and you'll be walking back to Hoenn with broken legs," May threatened as she grabbed another berry alongside Ash. Both teens were now nearing twenty or so berries each, a fact Gary was smartly keeping to himself.

"So, when do we head out?" the younger of the Hoenn siblings asked as he grabbed a pair of berries for breakfast, tossing one to Kirlia.

"Well, we're just waiting on Dawn and Lucian now," Gary explained. "Misty went to send a letter to Cerulean City before we go. We'll be heading south through Viridian forest towards Viridian City then towards Pallet Town. Viridian forest should be the hardest bit of the journey. After that, it's basically a straight shot to Pallet. Once we arrive, we'll charter a ship to Sinnoh."

Ash smiled. "Viridian Forest is also known for the various types of Pokémon that inhabit it. Might be a good place for you to start, May," he told the girl.

Max's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Start? As in catch a Pokémon?" he asked in sister in disbelief.

May simply nodded, looking away. "Uh, yeah. I've decided to try to train a Pokémon, so I asked Ash about it last night," she explained nervously. "So you think I should start in Viridian Forest?" she asked the two Aura Guardians.

Gary was the first to respond, nodding. "For someone just starting out, it'd be a good a place as any to begin. There are probably more than a few Pokémon who you could train there," he supplied as he watched his Eevee pounce on a berry that had fallen out of the basket from Ash and May's earlier pillaging.

"Ideally, you'll want to find one that's either younger or one with a decent temperament," he continued. "Viridian forest is home to many different types of Pokémon, including several with nasty attitudes, such as Beedrill, Ariados, and the occasional Fearow flock."

Ash, finally having eaten his share, which amounted to around a third of the basket, agreed with his friend and rival. "Might be a good idea to bring some berries with you, too. You never know, Pokémon have been known to follow people who feed them," he encouraged his friend.

May nodded, grabbing a few and stowing them in her messenger back just as a certain redhead returned.

"Ah, good, you're all up. You four ready to go? Dawn, Lucian and Riley are just about packed," Misty informed the group, who began picking up their various backpacks and other supply carriers.

The youngest of the group straightened his glasses and sighed. '_Well, this is their group, I should have expected this,'_ he thought to himself. '_Besides, Kirlia and I need a chance for payback. We can only do that if we travel with her.' _

Having gone over the fight again and again in his head last night, he had formulated a good series of counters for her combos. While Max clearly thought that power and strength were cornerstones, even he realized that going in without a plan was suicide.

He prided himself at being able to adapt to most situations, but this blunette was unlike any opponent he'd fought, relying on gambles and advanced combos. Just when he thought he'd be able to land one final attack to destroy her defenses, she completely flips the battle with Bide, taking a huge risk but somehow managing to still beat him.

"Alright everyone, let's head to Sinnoh!" The female cry snapped him out of his thoughts, causing Max and the rest to turn to see Lucian, Dawn and Riley enter the dining area with their bags and companion Pokémon.

'_We'll beat her yet. Her tricks can only get her so far before Kirlia and I overwhelm her,'_ the sixteen-year-old thought to himself with an annoyed look.

'_I see he's still sore over yesterday,' _the blunette thought to herself, regarding Max. '_Why Lucian thinks it'd be best for me to train with him, I'll never know.' _She mentally sighed to herself after a moment. '_Well, Lucian has been doing this longer than I have… Maybe he has a point. I mean, it won't cost me anything to ask, right?'_

While Dawn struggled with her own pride, Riley cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Alright, assuming everyone has everything, let's get moving shall we?" he asked them, to which they all either nodded or grunted in agreement.

* * *

The group had been traveling for a little over four hours and found themselves in the middle of Viridian forest around noon when a certain pair's stomachs began complaining at the lack of food, causing the humans attached to the stomachs to do the same.

"Come on, Riley, we've been at this for hours! I'm going to pass out from hunger soon!" Riley's raven-haired little brother whined overdramatically, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah, I'm starving too," May complained. "Can't we stop for lunch soon?" she asked Riley and Lucian, who were chuckling at the two teens.

"Alright, I think we can stop for lunch. _But_, it won't be done for a bit, so you two will have to wait," Riley told the two teens as the group entered a small clearing.

Ash sighed at hearing this but decided to keep positive. "Alright. It'll give May a chance to search for a Pokémon, at least."

Riley nodded. "I'll have Lucario contact you two telepathically when lunch is ready," he told the two teens who nodded eagerly before heading off into the forest. The rest of the group began lounging around the clearing while Riley and Lucian pulled out cooking equipment.

* * *

Ash, May and PIkachu wandered around the forest for a while in search of Pokémon. Viridian forest was buzzing with life as the many different types of Pokémon went about their lives, foraging, hunting, training, or seeking a mate.

Spotting something, she poked Ash. "What's that Pokémon?" she asked quietly.

Turning to see, Ash smiled lightly. "That's a Kakuna. They eventually evolve into Beedrill, but Beedrill have a tendency to- May? What are you doing?" he suddenly asked the teen as she began getting closer to the Cocoon Pokémon.

"Catching a Pokémon of course!" she replied happily as she knelt down and picked the Kakuna up. A faint buzzing could be heard but she ignored it. "Hey there. My name's May, and I was wondering if you'd like to join me!" she told it with a wide grin.

The buzzing intensified, causing her to look around, and Ash and Pikachu raised their guard. "May, we have to leave. _Now,_" he told her.

Just as she opened her mouth to argue, a pack of Beedrill burst into the clearing, looking directly at May, who was currently still holding one of their Kakuna.

"Uh… Nice Beedrill? I was just leaving? Hehe…he?" Dropping the Kakuna and grabbing Ash's arm, the two plus Pikachu, who struggled to hold onto his trainer, bolted back through the forest. Thankfully, the Beedrill didn't pursue, given they had their Kakuna back.

After running for a minute or two, they entered a small clearing and May was about to apologize when a pair of small brown bird-like Pokémon fly by.

"Who are those Pokémon?" she asked, again curious.

"Those are Pidgey." the raven-haired teen said with a grin, not holding a grudge for earlier. "Probably looking for food," he explained to her, shortly before freezing as the three of them heard a loud cry of "Fearow!" Eyes widening, the two teens and Pikachu turned around to see two more Pokémon enter their clearing.

The first was a terrified-looking avian Pokémon with a small, round blue body and little wings that looked reminiscent of clouds. It was being pursued by a much larger bird with a long neck, sharp pointed beak and a massive wingspan.

"Swa Swablu!" the smaller Pokémon cried in terror as it flew unsteadily towards the teens. As it made it's way through the clearing, however, it cried out in pain as it suddenly was covered in a red, fiery aura, signifying a burn. It also looked as if one of it's wings was injured.

'_It's been hurt, the poor little thing'_ May realized sadly. '_It looks burned too...' _It had never occurred to her how dangerous the wilds were, especially for Pokémon themselves until that moment. Ash, however, was more worried about the Fearow at the moment, knowing their temperaments were on par with Misty's after Gary did something stupid.

"Pikachu! Stop that Fearow with Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded causing Pikachu to leap off his shoulder towards the Normal/Flying type.

"Pikaaaaaa," he shouted as he charged his powerful electric attack, defiantly glaring at the larger Beak Pokémon as they charged towards each other.

The Fearow, in response, began gathering orange energy towards it's beak, preparing an attack of it's own.

May watched worriedly as the Swablu flew towards her to the best of it's abilities, between it's burn and hurt wing. Rushing forward, she managed to catch the small Cotton Bird Pokémon as it's wing finally gave out.

"Chuuuuu!" the Mouse Pokémon cried as he discharged a blinding bolt of pure electricity towards the Fearow, only to be countered when the Fearow released it's own attack, firing off a blast of orange wind from it's beak towards Pikachu, Swablu and the teens.

Within seconds, the entire clearing had raised in temperature, becoming oppressively hot, reminding May of her trip to Lavaridge town when she was younger. May took the injured Swablu and retreated behind Ash and Pikachu, attempting to comfort the Cotton Bird Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu, however, glared through the now hazy clearing at the Fearow.

"Pikachu, quick attack!" Ash called out.

Charging forward with speed that amazed May, Pikachu jumped straight towards the Fearow, slamming into it's torso before it could react. As Pikachu returned to the ground with a confident smirk on his face Ash called out his next attack.

"Alright, let's finish this! Thunderbolt, full power!" he called up while clenching his fist in front of him.

"Piiikaaaa… CHUUUU!" With a cry, the yellow mouse hurled a massive bolt of lightning towards the Beak Pokémon again, this time making contact in a blinding explosion. When the light finally faded, the teens, Pikachu and Swablu saw Fearow lying on the ground, residual electricity surrounding it.

Turning to his brunette companion, Ash grabbed her hand. "Come on! Let's get back to the group before that Fearow get's up."

The two left the clearing, heading back towards their group. May was still carrying the Swablu in her arms and Pikachu was clinging to Ash's shoulder as they ran. Neither teen nor Pokémon gave a look back at the Fearow. Had they, they'd have noticed the the hooded figure standing by the Fearow, glaring at them as they left.

* * *

Growing up as an Aura Guardian, Riley learned how to cook from his mother early on, so he and Lucario wouldn't starve when they were out training. While he wouldn't say he was as good as Delia, he hadn't had any complaints yet.

As he was ladeling lunch into bowls, having made a decent recreation of his mother's Tamato Berry soup, right on time, Ash and May came barreling back into camp.

Riley grinned and told them "Nice timing, you two. I was just… What happened?" he asked as he trailed off, noticing both teens were out of breath, their faces were smeared with dirt, and May was clutching something close to her.

By then, the rest of the group was looking the two over, slightly worried.

"We… just had to… outrun a Fearow…" Ash got out between breaths.

May, on the other hand, moved towards the fire and sat down, cradling a small, round Pokémon in her lap. "We saved this Pokémon from the Fearow, but they're hurt and I think burned," she said sadly, trying to comfort the Swablu.

"A burn? From a Fearow?" Lucian asked, slightly surprised. "You have a Rawst Berry in that bag of yours from earlier? Should help with the burn," he explained helpfully. "They're small and light blue. It's rather bitter, but it'll help."

Checking quickly, May pulled a berry out and showed it to Lucian, who nodded. She then brought it to the Swablu's mouth. "I know it doesn't smell good, but it'll help. I promise," she told the little Cotton Bird Pokémon, who after a short fight finally gave in and took a bite of the Rawst Berry.

"Hard to believe a Swablu made it this far south on it's own," Gary stated as he watched May care for Swablu and Ash sit down next to her, having finally caught his breath.

"How so?" Max asked. "Swablu are common in Hoenn, shouldn't that be northeast?" he asked, seeing as Hoenn was located to the southwest of Kanto and Johto.

"Swablu and their evolved form, Altaria, migrate between Hoenn and Rota from time to time," Gary replied. "If it was a Fearow, it may have attacked their flock and that wing injury forced your little friend there down into the forest. The burn, though… That's what doesn't make sense," he stated, tapping a finger to his chin.

"Fearow can learn how to use Heat Wave, given the right training," Lucian supplied. "If that's the case, your Fearow was likely not wild."

"But who would attack a flock of Pokémon like that?" May asked as she fed Swablu an Oran berry from her bag to help with the bitter taste, much to Swablu's delight.

"Poachers, if I had to guess," Misty stated suddenly. "There are a few poachers in northeast Kanto, but I heard the Battle Frontiersmen were trying to clean them out. Maybe they missed a few."

May frowned sadly as she looked down at the little blue Pokémon in her lap, feeling sorry for it. "Poor little thing…" She examined the wing and pulled a bandage from her pack, lightly wrapping the soft, fluffy cotton-like wing with it. "What'll happen if they don't find their flock?" she asked Gary, who sighed.

"Assuming that Fearow doesn't find it? I'm not sure. Swablu aren't known for being on their own, so unless it found some flock of Flying types to take it in… Well…" he trailed off, looking sad.

May looked back at Swablu, who was looking back at her sadly.

'_I can't just leave Swablu like that,'_ she thought to herself. Making a decision, she put a small smile on her face as she scratched the back of Swablu's head. "Well, what if Swablu came with me?"

Everyone in camp, from her little brother Max to the stoic Lucario smiled at the girl for her thought. But the one happiest with the decision was Swablu, who chirped happily as they snuggled up against May.

"Swa Swablu swa!" it cried happy, causing May to giggle and hug the Cotton Bird Pokémon.

"I take that as a yes?" she asked.

"_She says she'd love to travel with you, Lady May,"_ Lucario told her. "_She also claims her flock used to refer to her as Bubbles."_

Smiling happily, May looked down again and ask "So, Bubbles is it? Assuming you're interested, I'd be honored to be your trainer. I'll admit, I'm still new to this, and I may make mistakes, but I'm willing to give it my all."

"No need to worry, May!" Dawn exclaimed, doing everything in her power to not squee at the sight of the two. "I'm sure you two will get along great, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!"

The group agreed with the blunette and began moving back towards the food Riley had finished making, momentarily leaving May and Ash alone for a moment.

Turning to her friend, May beamed. "Thank you so much for all your help, Ash and Pikachu. If it wasn't for you, I'd have never met or been able to save Swablu… Huh." she stated thoughtfully. "You continue to help and save me, now that I think about it," she pointed out as her face blushed lightly.

Ash however was staring at the ground sheepishly. "Don't worry about it May. Pikachu and I were happy to help, right Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the yellow mouse exclaimed happily, giving May a thumbs up.

Turning back to her new companion, she was slightly surprised when Bubbles reached one of it's wings towards her face. She froze for a moment before she realized Bubbles was cleaning the dirt off her face with her wings.

"Aww! You are just too cute!" she gushed as she hugged her new companion again.

'_So, starting today I'm a Pokémon trainer. I helped out Bubbles and she has a place to stay, and it's all thanks to Ash…'_

* * *

_So, Chapter Seven is done! I hope you all enjoyed it, and for those curious, my sister normally has an Altaria named Bubbles, so that's a reference to her team. Anyways, feedback is encouraged, have a great night and God Bless!_


	8. Stars and Sea

_Evening all. Sorry for the wait, busy week and all, but I was determined to get this up tonight if it killed me. I also noticed I forgot my line breaks last chapter, so that's been fixed. And without further adu, Chapter Eight! Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon, Characters, Setting, ect.  
_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

The small company finally reached Pallet Town by nightfall, after a brief stop in Viridian City for dinner due to a certain pair of trainers with Munchlax-like appetites. Upon arriving, the group promptly booked passage aboard the last passenger ship sailing out to Sinnoh. The ship would stop at Cinnabar Island tomorrow morning briefly, then sail to Kin Island in Sevii, then finally to Canalave City in Sinnoh.

All eight of the individuals and their Pokémon were spread across the passenger ship, each doing their own thing. Dawn, Piplup, Lucian and Alakazam were fast asleep in the hold, resting up for their return to Sinnoh.

Riley and Lucario also found themselves resting up from the day's events, quietly keeping somewhat of a watch on the rear of the ship deck.

May, Bubbles, Ash, Pikachu, Max and Kirlia all sat in the galley discussing how to care for Bubbles, offering May some helpful advice they'd found useful growing up with their Pokémon.

Which left Gary, Eevee and Misty awake, walking around the deck quietly, staying out of the way of the crew.

Gary reached up and scratched Eevee under his chin as the two of them walked towards the bow of the ship. "Must be nice to be on the water after landlocked Rota," Gary commented offhandedly to the redhead.

"Yeah. I've always loved the water, ever since I was a little girl," she told him, smiling faintly in remembrance. It was odd, in his opinion, to see her serene and quiet, instead of annoyed and shouting as usual.

Gary chuckled lightly in response. "Yeah, I remember you dragging Ash and I down to the lake to swim every morning. Took a thunder or snowstorm to keep you out of that lake," he reminisced.

"Which reminds me, at some point during this trip, I do intend to get some swimming in. Assuming Sinnoh isn't the frozen wasteland you and Lucian make it out to be," she told the brunette with a smirk.

"It's colder than Rota or Kanto, to be sure, but the east and west coasts tend to be temperate enough. One of the three major lakes, specifically Lake Valor in Eastern Sinnoh is also rather pleasant, or so I've read," he supplied as they made it to the bow of the ship.

Misty leaned against the railing smiling, staring out at the star-littered horizon ahead of her, moonlight reflecting off the ocean illuminating her face gently. Gary, however, found himself staring without meaning to. Blinking, he shook his head clear.

'_Alright, what was that?' _he asked himself as he took a spot next to her at the railing, petting Eevee. '_I just zoned out looking at Misty! I mean this is Misty we're talking about here, brain. Sure, she doesn't look bad… Alright, if I'm being perfectly honest she's gorgeous, not that I'd _-ever- _say that aloud, for fear of being snapped in half...' _he thought to himself sourly.

'_It's so nice to just unwind after all that traveling,' _the redhead teen thought to herself with a contented sigh. '_Nothing but the rocking of the ocean, the smell of the sea, the sound of the water, and the company of my best friend.'_

Shooting a quick glance to her right, she saw Gary petting Eevee, looking like he was thinking about something. '_Probably thinking about Sinnoh,' _she rationalized. '_It kinda feels weird, being we haven't really talked in two years, just the two of us. I should probably break the silence.'_

"So, what're your plans when you complete your training?" she asked, doing everything she could to keep the nervousness from her voice. After a moment, she looked over again to see he was still petting the now sleeping Eevee, still in thought.

"Hey Gary, I asked you a question," she told him a little firmer this time, snapping him out of his trance.

"Huh? Uh, what was the question?" he asked, suddenly worried she was about to scream at him.

But to his surprise, she simply repeated her question quietly. "What do you plan to do when you finish becoming an Aura Guardian?"

Blinking, he thought for a moment. "Uh, well I guess I hadn't given it much thought to be honest. At the moment, I'm just trying to focus on finishing my trials and the mission."

"Don't Aura Guardians choose what region they protect?" she enquired curiously.

"Well… most Guardians prefer to stay in Rota and become Knights, but some do occasionally leave Rota to travel. While the Guardians are based there, we're a separate political group," he explained, happy to have a distraction from his earlier thoughts.

"So you can choose whether you become a Knight or not? It's not just a 'you're an Aura Guardian so now you're automatically a Knight too' kinda thing?" she asked the brunette.

"I guess. You'd have to ask Riley, to be honest. Why the sudden curiosity, anyways?" he responded, finally looking at the redhead again, Eevee sound asleep on his shoulder.

"Just something I was wondering about," she said as she looked back to the sea. '_Why is it so important that I had know that?' _she thought to herself, briefly wondering why she was acting this way before shaking the thoughts away. '_I can figure that out some other time. Right now, I just want to enjoy the time away from my sisters.'_

* * *

All in all, Bubbles had had a long day. First off, she nearly ended up a meal to some renegade Fearow who attacked her flock, then she gets saved by a pair of humans and a Pikachu, only to be taken in by their group. Now, she sat sleeping peacefully on the top of her new trainers head, looking like a fluffy hat.

May giggled lightly, careful not to wake her new charge. "Hard to believe the last two days we've had, huh Max?" she asked her brother, to which he nodded.

"Yeah. Just a week ago we were delivering that shipment of stones for dad and grandpa, and now we're traveling with Aura Guardians to Sinnoh," he agreed. '_Although I could have done without meeting a certain blunette,'_ he thought to himself.

Their raven-haired companion decided to chime in finally. "So Max, I heard you and Kirlia battled Dawn and Piplup yesterday. Did you pick up any new tricks?" he asked quietly, petting the resting Pikachu in his lap.

"New tricks? What do you mean?" the green-haired teen asked, clearly confused.

"When Pikachu and I battle, we always try to learn new tactics or moves. Gary and his Eevee have been our rivals since he got his Eevee and Pikachu and I started traveling together. So whenever we can learn something new to get the upper hand, we always try," the boy explained with a small grin.

"Pika, chupika pikapi pikachu," his companion explained to the clueless siblings, raising his paw in determination.

"Uh… what?" Max asked, to which Ash chuckled lightly.

"He said he'd be happy to help you and Kirlia train. And count me in too!" he told Max, clenching his fist, matching Pikachu's pose.

"Shhhh!" an annoyed May hissed to the two teens. "Bubbles is trying to sleep," she told them quietly.

"Heh, sorry May. Guess I got a bit carried away…" Ash told her sheepishly, him and Pikachu scratching the back of their heads.

Unable to stay mad at the pair, especially since Bubbles was still sleeping, she relented finally and smiled. "It's alright. No harm done."

"So what do you say, Max? Up for a battle when we make it to Cinnabar Island tomorrow? You might pick up a few tricks from battling us," he offered, much more quietly this time.

After a moment of thought, Max sighed. "Thanks, but no thanks. We're determined to beat Dawn our way, even if it takes us a while. Right Kirlia? ...Kirlia?" Turning, Max noticed his partner sleeping soundly against the hull of the ship.

May giggled lightly. "Looks like someone's tired," she told him.

Max was about to argue when he was interrupted by his own bodily functions. "-_Yawn-_ I guess Kirlia's not the only one… I'm going take Kirlia and head to our cabin for the night. Night you two."

As Max headed off, Pikachu subtly poked Ash in the stomach before pointing to his pocket, reminding Ash of the bandana he'd been putting off giving May for the past day and a half.

'_Come on Ash, just give it to her already...'_ the nervous teen thought to himself as he looked at Pikachu in his lap. His stomach felt like it was filled with Butterfree as he put his hand in his pocket, feeling the Kalosian silk handkerchief still there from when he purchased it.

'_I still don't know what Gary was talking about, though. My intentions? What did he mean by that anyways? Is it so weird to get something for someone? Granted, I don't personally see him doing something like this for, say, Misty...'_

The boy was startled from his thoughts by a light nudge on his arm. Blinking, he saw May tapping his shoulder lightly. "You alright?" she asked, concerned that her friend had gone so quiet after Max left. "You're not mad about me hushing you earlier, are you?"

Ash's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, no, not at all. I was just, sorta, thinking," he responded, trying to identify the odd feeling in his stomach. He noticed his hand was still in his pocket, clutching the bandana firmly.

"Anything I can help with?" the brunette asked quietly with a hopeful expression.

"Well…" he started before trailing off. '_Why am I so nervous,'_ he thought to himself. He was about to Torchic out of it again when Pikachu poked him again.

"Pika, pikachu pikapi."

Taking a deep breath, he nodded to Pikachu before turning back to May. "Well, I kinda have something I want to give to someone, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that. I guess I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing," he told her, trying to hide the fact that it was her he was nervous about.

Smiling, she told him "What if you leave it where they'll find it with a note attached to it? That'll get it, they'll know who it came from, and you can avoid everything sounding all awkward when you do eventually give it to them."

Nodding a bit as he took her advice in, he smiled. "Thanks May. That helps out quite a bit, actually," he told her as he picked up Pikachu and stood up, suppressing a yawn as he prepared for bed.

"If I may, who's the gift for?"

Freezing, willing his tired brain to come up with an answer of some sort that wouldn't spoil his surprise or make things any more awkward, Ash said the first thing that came to mind.

"Uh, it's for Dawn," he lied, mentally kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Oh." was the only response he got, May's expression unreadable. "Alright, well, I should be getting to bed. I'll see you later Ash," she told him as she carefully stood up with Bubbles on her head and headed off where Max disappeared to.

Sighing, Ash looked at his partner. "I think I could have handled that better."

"Pika," he agreed.

* * *

_Dear Princess Ilene,_

_By the time you get this, we'll have left Cinnabar Island and likely be halfway to Sinnoh. Things are progressing well, if a bit unexpectedly. On the way to Pewter City, Misty ambushed us, screaming about how Gary had left her in Rota with her sisters. It was more or less decided that she could come along with us, probably because I doubt Gary or Ash wanted to tell her she couldn't come._

_After that, a few days later, about two miles north of Pewter City, we came across a boy whose sister was stuck on a cliffside. In a brave and rash move, even for him, Ash managed to grab her before she fell and with Gary's help pulled the girl back up to safety. They claim to be traveling couriers for their father in Hoenn, and supposedly their next stop is in Sinnoh. _

_The boy, Max, displayed very good battling abilities with his Kirlia, managing to hold his own for a while against the Sinnoh apprentice, but was eventually beaten. I'm pretty sure that'll be the start of a rivalry between the two, though Lucian seems to think Dawn will come out on top._

_Max's sister, May, doesn't seem to be all that familiar with Pokémon. She's still learning, but with help from my little brother, she managed to help a small Normal/Flying type Swablu, called Bubbles, avoid being lunch to a Fearow. Her and Bubbles have since become inseparable._

_Overall, we're all doing fairly well and we should be in Sinnoh in about five days from when I'm writing this. We should get whatever you send in return in Canalave City._

_I hope to finish in SInnoh soon, and I promise to do everything in my power to be home for that festival. _

_Yours in service, Sir Riley Arlon_

"There. Done." Riley folded up the letter, planning to have Pidgeot send it home tomorrow morning. While he couldn't see Pidgeot, he knew he was likely high above, circling the boat.

"_I assume you finished your letter to Mistress Ilene?"_ his ever-present companion asked.

"Yeah, finally. I meant to do it when we hit Pewter City, but we got sidetracked. I… I think you were right, the night before we left," he responded quietly.

"_You believe yourself to have romantic feelings for Mistress Ilene, you mean?"_ he asked, and even in thought, Riley knew Lucario was smirking without having to look at his partner next to him.

"Yes. Alright, you were probably right. I'm still not completely sure if I'm _-gulp- _in love with her, but if we just… stopped, I'm not sure how I'd handle it," he confessed.

"_Your father told me similar in regards to Lady Delia. At first, it seemed a strange idea, but the two of them became far happier together than they had ever been by themselves. I can only attribute this to your human emotion, love."_

"For a Pokémon, you are very wise, Lucario," Riley complimented his partner. "So, I believe it's your watch for a bit while I get some sleep."

Grunting in agreement, Lucario stood and walked to the ship railing, attempting to bring his mind back to the here and now and not his meditations. Riley took the opportunity to ball his cloak up like a pillow and grab some shuteye.

'_Don't worry Ilene, I'm coming back to you one day," _he thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Finding herself on the same dark cliff from her dream that morning and from her near-death experience the day before, May sighed.

'_So, This is going to be a nightly thing, then?'_ she thought to herself sourly.

Turning, she saw the Skarmory breach the leafy canopy of the forest before diving towards her again, with the same ear-piercing shriek as before. Try as she might though, she still froze up at the sight despite her realizing this was a dream.

This time, however, she managed to keep her eyes open long enough to see the Skarmory tear past her, launching her off the cliff. But unlike in real life, this time she was hurled far from the cliff, with no hope of grabbing on. Just her, her terror, and the rapidly closing ground.

* * *

"AAAIIEE!"

Max bolted out of his bed as the shrill shriek filled his small cabin. It was still early in the morning hours. Turning frantically, he saw his sister sitting upright, breathing heavily, looking terrified.

"May? What's wrong!?" he asked as he checked on Kirlia and the now thoroughly startled Bubbles, making sure they were alright.

Turning to her brother, May closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I'm… I'm fine Max. _-Gulp- _Just a nightmare. I'm sorry I woke you," she told him and she tried to put her head back down and control her breathing.

Max wasn't convinced though. "May, you've had nightmares before and that's never happened. What was it about?"

After a moment, she responded quietly. "Since… the cliff, I've been having nightmares about it. Vivid, terrifying nightmares…" she confessed, clearly shaken.

Bubbles landed lightly on her chest, looking concerned and sad for her new trainer. "Swa, swablu blu," she chirped, trying to make May smile by rubbing the girl's chin with her cotton wing.

"May, you going to be alright? Really?" Max asked, also very concerned for his sister. '_I didn't realize it had affected her that badly,' _he thought to himself.

Finally managing to get her breathing under control, she nodded. "I think so. I'm going to try to get some sleep. Sorry for waking you…" she told the boy before hugging Bubbles and rolling over, trying to get some sleep.

But sleep never came for the brunette. And several hours later, as the sun entered the porthole of their cabin and Max and Kirlia went about their lives leaving her to sleep in, she pulled herself out of bed, dead tired.

'_I really hope this isn't going to continue...'_ she thought to herself tiredly.

Bubbles, on the other hand, had slept fairly well and was currently perched on her bed as May went through her daily routine of getting ready.

'_So, past few days have had a few ups and downs. Ups: I've met a group of nice people, they're traveling with us to Sinnoh, and Ash helped me meet Bubbles and become her trainer. Plus, he did sort of save my life. Downs: I was in a position where he had to save my life, Max seems really focused on beating Dawn, and Ash… is nervous about giving her a gift?' _

As she finished getting dressed, brushing her hair, and tying it up in her red bandana, she thought about that for a bit. '_Why do I care if he's giving her a gift anyways? I've only known him two days now. I mean, sure he's saved me and Bubbles, but he's an Aura Guardian. Isn't that what they do? Argh, why am I making such a big deal out of this anyways?!'_

Huffing, she finished up and offered her arm out to Bubbles, who happily hopped over to it, quickly making her way to May's shoulder, cuddling against her trainer. May smiled and giggled, despite her lack of sleep and gloomy mood.

"Stop, that tickles!" she cried, finally feeling better and ready for the day. "Shall we go check out Cinnabar Island?"

"Swablu!"

* * *

Ash, Gary, and their Pokémon found themselves in a small shop on Cinnabar Island, finding any supplies their group would need for the journey ahead while the ship crew did the same.

"So Ashy-Boy, you thought about what I said back in Pewter City?" the brunette asked his raven-haired friend as he counted food items for the group.

"Kind of. I'm still not quite sure what you meant, though. But I have a feeling it has to do with why I feel so nervous whenever I try to give May that bandana," the teen admitted as he looked over several sections of rope and a variety of hooks to use with them.

"Sounds like Ashy has a crush," Gary teased in a sing-song voice, much to his friend's annoyance.

"Give it a rest, Gary. We both know you'd -_really-_ lose that battle if you started it," Ash replied, clearly not amused.

"Alright, alright," Gary relented, chuckling. "Still, do you even plan to give it to her? I mean, you did spend three silver on it. And just a piece of advice, I'd leave that bit out and say you spent the seven on it, but that's me."

"I do plan to at some point, it's just… hard, you know?"

"Hey guys!"

Turning, the two teens saw Max and Kirlia enter the shop and make their way over to them.

"Hey Max. Where's your sis?" Gary asked curiously while Ash nodded in greeting.

"Probably still sleeping if I had to guess. She had a rough night," he told them with a sigh.

"What do you mean, Max?" Ash asked curiously, Pikachu matching his expression of curiosity.

"She's apparently been having nightmares about the cliff. She seemed pretty shaken when she woke up earlier. I was thinking of what Kirlia and I could do to get her smile back," the green-haired boy told them before he and Kirlia went to a different section of the shop, looking for something she'd like.

Gary took this opportunity to not-so-subtly jab Ash in the ribs with his elbow. "If you are so dense you can't even see this opportunity in front of you, I'm going to have Eevee use Shadow Ball on you," he told his friend.

"Yeah, I got it Gary. And it gives me an idea…"

* * *

After a long day of gathering supplies, writing a letter to her family explaining recent happenings, playing with and caring for Bubbles, and surviving with so little sleep, she was extremely glad to get to bed.

'_Whether I get some sleep tonight or not is another question,'_ she thought to herself sadly as she got ready for bed, Bubbles making herself comfortable on one of her pillows, making a small makeshift nest.

The brunette was about to lay down when she noticed something sitting on her covers. '_That's odd. When did that envelope get there?' _Picking the large envelope up, she opened it, pulling out the letter first.

_Dear May,_

_Thanks for the advice last night. As you can see, it helped out quite a bit, otherwise I wouldn't have even got this far. I said it was for Dawn because I didn't want to ruin the surprise, and after Max told us about your nightmares, I wanted to do something to make you happy._

_Ash_

May sat there reading the letter for a moment before looking back to the envelope and reaching inside, feeling a soft fabric. '_No… He didn't...'_

Pulling it out, she saw the same light blue Kalosian silk bandana she had looked at in Pewter City. Blinking in disbelief, she barely registered that she was still breathing. '_He… he bought me this? But, it was seven silver, that was outrageous...'_

Many conflicting thoughts and feelings went through her mind before she just smiled. She smiled that someone saw she wanted something like that and went out of their way to get it for her. She smiled because it was Ash that had gotten the bandana for her.

As she laid down for the night, cuddling Bubbles in one arm and her new bandana in the other, she got her first good night sleep since the cliff. And her dreams were no longer filled with dark images of Skarmory. Instead, they were filled with images of friends, family, and a certain dense raven-haired trainer.

* * *

_So, hopefully that wasn't as cheesy as it seems in my mind. Still new to writing anything remotely shippy, so it's a work in progress. As an aside, I'm toying with the idea of a Dawn and Max centered story about Hoenn, in honor of the ORAS release in November. Still toying, mind you, but ideas are slowly building. Assuming there's interest, I'll likely try to have a chapter up in the next few weeks, maybe a one shot to kick things off and go from there. Anyways, I've babbled long enough. Thank you for your support, feedback is appreciated and God Bless!_


	9. Terror on the High Seas

_So, managed to get this chapter done and out before I leave tomorrow. Slowly getting into a schedule of updating on weekends, so that's what I'll be aiming for, probably saturday or sunday nights. Two things of note: One is the Indigo League mentioned is not the traditional Pokémon league, it's more of a confederacy of Kanto, Johto, the Sevii Islands and the Orange Archipelago. Two: ...I had to put the reference in. You'll see. It was just too perfect after all the characters for this chapter fell into place. Anyways, Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Setting, Characters, Ect._

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

"Look, Sir Knight, I'm telling ya we'll be to Kin Island by midnight at the very latest!" the captain informed Riley for the third time. "Trust me, will ya? This isn't my first voyage."

Grumbling, Riley briefly wondered how he got stuck with this man for a captain. Standing around his height with messy blonde hair that perpetually seemed to stick up on the top of his head, a long blue coat with red trim, and a constant need to remind everyone aboard that he was captain, Captain Jack "Jackie" Walker was owner and captain of the Samiya, the ship currently taking them to Kin Island.

Only problem was, they were due to make landfall hours ago, and there was still no land in sight. A tiny fact that was beginning to worry Riley. As the sun sank further and further into the horizon, his visits to see _Captain_ Jack were increasing in frequency.

"We were due there hours ago. Not Midnight," Riley retorted dryly.

"Listen Sir Knight, I don't tell you how to shoot 'Aura', so I'd appreciate it if you not tell me how to run my ship and just let me do my job. We'll be there in just a few hours," Jack replied, obviously beginning to get annoyed at the young Guardians incessant pestering.

Muttering under his breath, Riley left the captain to his duties, heading down into the hold to find Lucario.

'_That captain is way too care free. He may be a Ranger, but that doesn't mean he's invincible. Just a few hours, my side… I'd like to see how he'd react if an actual emergency came about,' _Riley thought to himself sourly.

"_Be careful what you wish for, Master."_

Turning quickly, Riley saw Lucario standing directly next to him, causing him to jerk backwards slightly. "When did you get here?" he asked, slightly unnerved that after thirteen years, his longtime companion and friend could still just _appear_ at his side sometimes. '_I swear, he must know Teleport...'_

"_Master, I've informed you several times that I cannot in fact use Teleport."_

"I believe I've also asked you numerous times not to read my thoughts with your telepathy," Riley responded dryly.

"_We're being followed," _ the blue jackal told him simply.

Turning around quickly, Riley saw no one standing in the hall in either direction aside from the two of them. Reaching out with his Aura abilities, he also sensed nothing out of the ordinary, crew going about their duties, their group scattered and doing their own things.

"I don't sense anything," he replied, curious if his friend was beginning to lose it.

"_They're not aboard the ship. Focus your senses further aft and you'll sense them,"_ Lucario told him.

Sighing, Riley closed his eyes and again focused his Aura and tried sensing behind them. Eventually he saw the ghostly image of a large ship flying a black flag, and a crew of pirates and Pokémon intent on violence. Snapping his eyes open, he looked at Lucario who simply smirked dryly.

"_I told you to be careful what you wished for."_

* * *

"So, are you as bored as I am Kirlia?" Max asked as he stared out into the sunset reflecting off the sea.

"Kirl," he responded to his trainer with equal boredom.

Since leaving Cinnabar Island, the group had been at sea for the past two days. Captain Walker had said they would have arrived several hours ago and leave tomorrow morning for another three day trek to Canalave Town. But the deadline had come and gone, the sun was setting, and some passengers including Max and Kirlia were beginning to go stir crazy.

"I can't wait till we get to Sinnoh. We need to get some serious training if we're going to beat Dawn and her Piplup," he told Kirlia with a determined expression. "We'll have to figure out a way to overpower their Bide. What do you think about working on your Magical Leaf attack when we get to Sinnoh?"

"Kirl, Kirlia!" the Emotion Pokémon agreed excitedly.

"Alright, that'll be the first thing we do when we make landfall. And then, when we improve a bunch, we'll challenger her again and this time, we'll win for sure!"

"You seem awfully confident of that, Max," he heard from behind him, in the Sinnish accent that he'd come to find annoying. Turning, he saw the blunette the voice was attached to, her Piplup sitting on her head, her expression unreadable.

"What do you want, Berlitz?" he asked, crossing his arms defensively.

She looked slightly confused by the reaction, but continued. "Well, Piplup and I kinda wanted to ask you something," she replied nervously, wringing her hands.

'_What could she possibly want to ask me? Is this some sort of trick?' _he thought to himself, unsure. "Ask me what?"

She opened her mouth and took a deep breath, about to answer when they both heard the shout go up. "All hands, brace for battle! Pirates to stern!"

* * *

"Arr har! Bring me the wind, lads! 'At ship'll be ours, or my name ain't The Phantom!"

Standing aboard the helm of his ship, the Renegade, Phantom grinned savagely as his crew followed his orders, loosing more sails to increase their speed.

Quite a large man, Phantom wore a heavy crimson greatcoat, bordered in gold, heavy Unovan leather boots, and a wide hat in the same crimson and gold. His teal hair hung down to his belt in the back, as did his beard in the front. He had also taken to using a pair of belts to keep his beard manageable.

Completing his look was a large, hardwood cane with his personal symbol emblazoned upon it, a spiral with a point off of one side, resembling a Rotom. The symbol also was set upon his hat. Resting atop his cane was his constant companion, the Music Note Pokémon Chatot, who enjoyed mirroring what his owner said.

"Galen!" he bellowed, looking to his First Mate Galen, a young man with dirty blonde dreadlocks, a small patchy beard, and a blue bandana that also bore the symbol of Phantom. "Have the crew get the grapple lines ready!" he ordered.

"Get the grapple lines ready!" his Chatot repeated.

"Aye aye, captain!" he replied as he jump down to the lower deck, relaying the orders.

Putting his spyglass to his eye once more, his grin grew even more as they closed on the small passenger ship. "There be two types o' people on this planet," he said to himself. "Those who are meant to be rich, and those who aren't!"

* * *

"Oh, this is just wonderful…" Jack told the Guardians, spyglass to his eye. "It's the Renegade. That's Phantom's Jolly Roger alright…" Flying proud in the fading evening light was the Jolly Roger of the Renegade, a black flag with the symbol of Phantom in stark white.

"Phantom?" Gary asked. '_What sort of pirate calls himself Phantom anyways?' _he thought to himself.

"The Phantom is a Privateer holdover from the Unovan Blitz, eighteen years ago. Been hiding somewheres in Sevii, preying on any ships he finds. The Indigo League has been trying to get rid of him for years now," Jack informed him.

"History aside, what's the plan? Or do you just plan to give up?" Riley asked, hoping they had some idea of how to get out of this mess. The Renegade was approaching rapidly and would easily overtake the Samiya soon.

"Don't worry, I don't know the meaning of the phrase give up," he replied confidently. "The Phantom's known for being brutal, not for being smart."

"And that helps us… how exactly?" Gary asked Jack, Eevee looking more and more nervous on his shoulder.

"Simple. He's expecting a nice little passenger ship, probably filled with rich civilians. Not a crew of Rangers and Aura Guardians for passengers. Between the crew and you lot, we should be able to give them a headache. We just need to figure out some way of disabling their ship," Jackie told them, tapping his chin in thought.

"Get Lucario or I over to his ship and we can take out his mast. We'll just need to make sure the grapples are dealt with so we can escape," Riley finally offered after a moment.

"Sounds like our best shot," Jackie said, nodding. "Get your group ready and move everyone who's not fighting down into the hold. I need to get my own people ready," he told them as he headed off to find his quartermaster.

"Alright, Ash, Gary, go get the others below deck then meet me at the bow," Riley told the two teens as he and Lucario started off, only to be interrupted by Ash.

"Uh, Riley? What's the bow?"

* * *

"Oh no, you seriously don't expect me to just sit in the hold while you two fight off _pirates,_ do you?!" Misty bellowed at Gary and Ash.

While Dawn, Lucian, and Max were planning on aiding the fight with their Pokémon, and May was planning on staying below deck with Bubbles, Misty wasn't about to let her mallet sit idle during something like this, despite her lack of a Pokémon for the moment.

"Captain Jack only wants people with Pokémon above deck," Gary tried to reason with her.

The redhead however was having none of it. Crossing her arms, she glared at the brunette teen. "You're not stopping me, Oak. I'm going to be on that deck if I have to break through the hull and climb up," she threatened, and Gary and Ash knew she'd make good on it.

Turning to his friend, Gary's hope sank as he saw Ash shrug helplessly at him, Pikachu mirroring his action. '_Those two may as well be conjoined,'_ he thought to himself.

Turning back to Misty, he saw she was still dead set on joining the fight, and when she put her mind to something, it took a Legendary Pokémon to stop her. Sighing, he just shrugged. "Alright, but if Riley or Captain Jack start yelling, it's on you," he told her, giving in.

"Yes! Come on, let's get up on deck you two," she told the two teens, now satisfied she'd get to hit something.

As the three plus Pikachu and Eevee made their way topside, they saw Rangers running about, finalizing their defense. Seeing Riley at the front of the ship, the bow as Gary had explained to Ash, the trio set off to check in.

"-And make sure you're ready to cut those lines. We'll need to get moving as soon as we take out their mast," Riley informed the Ranger he was speaking to, a lass with teal hair in an odd configuration. A ponyta-tail that looked to be styled up towards the front of her head, similar to a Drapion's tail. On her shoulder sat a Pokémon similar to PIkachu, but with large red ears and a tail shaped like a red 'plus' sign.

"Don't worry, we'll be ready," she responded confidently before turning to the trio and nodding, heading off to relay orders. As she passed by, Gary couldn't help but wink at her, something that he thought went unnoticed by his companions.

'_Might have to see about dinner with her after we get out of this,'_ he thought to himself. Afterall, he was a typical teenager after all. Pretty girl? Of course he's interested.

His redheaded friend whoever was having several very different thoughts run through her confused mind. '_Why does he have to hit on every girl we meet? It's honestly really juvenile, I mean really, he's almost as bad as my sisters... '_ she thought to herself, annoyed at his behavior for reasons she didn't understand.

Her two best friends were just so different and so alike that it infuriated her. First you had Ash Arlon, or Ketchum as he and Riley were going by, who was quite possibly the densest boy on the face of the planet and wouldn't know a girl was interested in him even if she tattooed it to her forehead.

Gary Oak on the other hand was quite possibly the quintessential teenage boy, interested in just about any girl that crossed his path, with the only notable exceptions being May and Misty herself.

'_Not that I want him to be interested in me. I mean, why would I? It's not like I like him or anything,'_ she told herself, almost trying to convince herself of it. '_I just find it annoying that he has to flirt with every girl he meets. Yeah. That's it. Although I am slightly curious why he's not interested in May...'_

"I see Misty decided to join you two… I'd argue but I'd rather she hit the raiders with that mallet rather than me," Riley told the trio dryly, breaking Misty out of her thoughts. "Gary, Misty, you two are mid ship, Ash, Lucario and I will take the bow and I've got Max, Dawn at the aft. Lucian and Alakazam are with the Captain at the helm, coordinating the defense," he informed them.

"Top priority is taking out those grapple lines," he continued. "Lucario or I will do what we can to take their masts out so we can make a run for it. And please stay on the Samiya. As soon as the masts and lines are down, we're leaving."

"Got it boss," Gary replied.

"We won't let you down Riley, right Pikachu?" the raven-haired teen asked.

"Pikachu!"

Hefting her mallet onto her shoulder with a confident smirk, Misty nodded. "Ready to give some pirates headaches."

"Gonna talk 'em to death? Hehe-" '-_WHACK-'_

Ash, Riley, Pikachu and Lucario all winced as Gary's mouth bought him a headache of his own. One day he'd learn to keep his mouth shut.

* * *

Grapple lines eventually came over the rails on the starboard side of the Samiya, drawing the vessel closer to the Renegade that had finally caught up to it's side. Not putting up any resistance, the vessel was soon pulled up next to the Renegade, and finally the signal was given.

"Now!" Captain Jack screamed to his crew, causing them to begin calling out attacks in the evening light, firing bolts of lightning, blasts of water, and even a few normal attacks at the pirates, who began firing in kind with their own water blasts, Hyper Beams, and even several Dark type attacks.

Defending the rear Quarterdeck where Lucian, Alakazam and Jack were commanding the battle were Dawn and Max, along with Piplup and Kirlia, fighting back any pirates or Pokémon that tried to push through.

"Kirlia, Magical Leaf against those Tirtouga!" Max called out, indicating a pair of Prototurtle Pokémon and their pirate trainers, both of which wore dark green vests and bandanas with Phantom's symbol on them.

"Stop that little pipsqueak with Rock Slide!" one pirate responded. "You too, Tirtouga!" the other shouted, and the three Pokémon began charging their attacks before unleashing them.

Rock shards flew towards Kirlia, but he managed to fire off his Magical Leaf attack, causing most of the rocks to explode and a cloud of smoke to appear over their area of the ship.

"Now, Piplup use Bubble Beam!" his blunette companion shouted, and soon a stream of blue bubbles shot into the cloud, causing several more, smaller explosions. When the smoke did clear, both Tirtouga were clearly tired but still on their feet.

"Tirtouga, use Stone Edge on Piplup!" the first pirate called out, just as his partner ordered "Use Iron Tail, then follow up with Crunch, now!"

"Piplup, protect Kirlia with Bubble Beam!" Dawn shouted, hoping Piplup could withstand the Stone Edge attack long enough to prevent the attack.

'_What is she doing?!'_ Max thought to himself, suddenly worried. '_That Stone Edge will cause major damage to Piplup if it hits, especially if it hits critically!' _

"Kirlia, try to stop the Stone Edge with Psychic!" he ordered, just as Tirtouga flew at Kirlia, it's tail having taken on a metallic sheen. '_If that hits Kirlia, it'll be super effective...'_

But to Max's surprise and amazement, a Bubble Beam shot into the Tirtouga's side, throwing it into the railing instead of it's original target, knocking it out..

And much to Dawn and Piplup's relief, the Stone Edge attack was caught inches before it hit the Penguin Pokémon, being thrown back to the Tirtouga who launched the attack, also knocking it out.

"Alright! Great work Piplup and Kirlia!" Dawn shouted, holding her hand out to Max for a high five.

'_...I guess she's not so bad. Reckless, but she did save Kirlia,' _he thought to himself before smiling and returning the high five.

* * *

_-WHACK-_

Between Eevee's constant attacks, Gary's Aura Spheres, and Misty's comically large hammer, the three of them had held off the majority of pirates boarding the midship.

"Eevee!" the small Evolution Pokémon cried as he ran, jumping headlong into the gut of a pirate with a powerful Take Down attack, effectively removing him from the fight before an Aura Sphere tore by narrowly to launch away a Palpitoad that was closing on Eevee.

"Gary! One coming your way!"

Turning to the shout, Gary watched Misty knock a pirate towards him using her hammer. He raised his arm out from his chest, clotheslining the pirate as he flew by, courtesy of Air Waterflower.

"Nice! That counts as a half for each of us!" he shouted to her as he began charging another sphere.

"In your dreams, Oak!" she replied before smashing the hands of some unfortunate pirate who chose the wrong section of railing to grab on to.

Eevee could only roll his eyes at his trainer's antics with Misty. While Gary and Ash were always competitive with each other, Gary and Misty competing against each other was something rather new since she had returned. And thankfully, unlike against Ash where he was often pitted against Pikachu, Gary and Misty had more of a personal rivalry, although the Evolution Pokémon was curious if that's all it was.

"Beedrill, Pin Missile!"

Leaping onto the railing from the Renegade was a man with dirty blonde dreadlocks, a blue coat, and matching bandana with the symbol of Phantom. Hovering on either side of him was a Beedrill.'_Well, he's not dressed like the rest of those grunts. Maybe this guy'll be a challenge,' _Gary thought confidently to himself.

Cupping his hands together, he formed a pair of aura spheres, crackling blue-black energy orbs, and with a confident grin threw them both at the Beedrill, pushing through the Pin Missiles.

Misty, on the other hand, was currently paralyzed. From a Thunder Wave attack you might ask? Nope. Instead, her crippling phobia of Bug-type Pokémon. '_B-b-bugs! Why'd h-he have t-to use b-b-bugs!?' _she thought to herself in panic, unable to move.

"Sludge Bomb!" the pirate then called, undeterred. In response, the Beedrill's stingers began glowing sickly purple before they thrust them forward, launching a series of sludge globs into the aura spheres, destroying them in a blast of smoke.

"X-Scissor!" the teens heard called and before they could react both Beedrill had appeared beside each of them, launching them with the powerful Bug-type attacks.

Landing hard on the deck next to each other, Gary groaned in pain. '_I think maybe I underestimated this guy...' _he thought to himself bitterly. Shortly after landing, thick streams of silk shot out of the smoke, firmly lashing them to the deck, despite their struggles.

Checking to see if Misty was alright, he saw she was in a similar predicament and looked to be terrified. '_Of course,' _He thought to himself. '_Misty's afraid of Bug-types, ever since we were kids.'_ Hearing laughter, He craned his neck into positions only to see the pirate slowly approach, Beedrill still flanking him.

"You brats 'onestly thought you had a chance 'gainst me? Do you annoyin' little worms have any idea who I am? I'm Galen! It was me and Phantom who held off the Kantonese Navies back during the Blitz! I finished off yer Admiral personally! An' you two idjits though you could go toe to toe with me?!" he asked the aching, struggling teens, laughing heartily, eyes glinting dangerously in the faint moonlight.

He was interrupted from his laughing fit by a Shadow Ball, passing dangerously close to his head. Snapping out of it, he saw a small brown fox-like Pokémon leap between him and the teens, growling with his small fangs bared.

"Eevee… Don't," Gary tried to say, weakly raising his arm against the silk. But the small Evolution Pokémon paid him no mind, charging another Shadow Ball and firing it at Galen on his own.

"End that little furball!" Galen ordered angrily as he narrowly dodged the attack, and both his Beedrill began firing Pin Missile attacks, destroying the Shadow Ball eventually battering the small Eevee back between the two teens.

"No… Eevee…" Gary managed to get out, looking at his longtime companion laying in a heap by him. On the other side, he saw Misty staring at the two, looking as sad as the day she moved to Cerulean City. He saw Eevee struggling to get up, but he looked like he had taken too much damage.

"Now that those two fools are out o' the way, I can think of a lot o' uses fer a lass like yerself," Galen replied as he stopped a few feet away from them. Looking at him and the glint in his eye, Misty could honestly say for once that she was absolutely terrifiedin her life, specifically of this bug-loving pirate.

Gary, however, felt something snap inside him in that moment. Looking at his partner, he saw the same determination in the Evolution Pokémon's eyes. '_He's not touching Misty,' _he thought to himself, struggling against his restraints. '_If it's the last thing I do, that monster will not touch Misty.'_

As Misty tried to claw her way out of the webs and away from the slowly approaching pirate, she became briefly aware of someone screaming immediately to her left, and shooting a terrified glance over, she saw Gary begin standing up, shredding the thick silk like it was made of paper.

Likewise, Eevee struggled to his feet, a determination settling in that it wouldn't be beat by this cocky pirate and his pet Beedrill. It was the thought of losing his trainer and Misty that spurred him to stand up, and the knowledge that his trainer wasn't giving up that allowed for something unexpected but extremely welcome to happen.

To his right, out of the corner of his eye, Gary saw something bright. Turning, he saw Eevee was glowing pure white, and it appeared to be changing shape, growing to around three times his size. His mane disappeared, and his ears changed shape to look more like his tail. As the light began to fade, Gary noted that Eevee's coat had taken on a black coloration, and yellow rings now marked his head, paws, ears, and tail.

"Umbreon…" he whispered, grinning. "Come on. He's not touching Misty, right?"

As if to demonstrate his resolve, the newly evolved Umbreon used his newly learned ability Moonlight, absorbing the residual energy from the moon to heal his earlier wounds. Smirking at the Beedrill, Umbreon took on a battle stance, close to the deck like a hunter.

As Misty and Galen both watched this, very different thoughts ran through their minds.

'_Is Gary… Protecting me?' _ Misty's thoughts were a jumble, between her fear of the Beedrill and terror of Galen, and the feeling of… '_Safety,'_ she identified it as, a thought that was both comforting and worrying at the same time.

'_That boy ain't normal… Blasted Aura Guardians, shoulda finished the lot o' 'em when we invaded Rota! Damn Alder and 'is campaign!' _Galen thought bitterly, raising his arm. "Beedrill! End those meddling kids! Hyperbeam!"

Thrusting his arms forward, Gary created a shield of Aura, blocking the two powerful attacks. Misty briefly noted that his eyes were glowing bright blue in the darkness of night. '_He sure has grown up since we were kids...'_ she found herself thinking.

As the shield faded after the attacks, both Pokémon and Trainer moved as one, firing an Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball in perfect synchronization at the Beedrill, launching them back to the Renegade. Gary then let out a bellow and charged forward towards a very startled and now afraid-looking Galen, one of his fists surrounded in blue-black Aura.

"GET. OFF. OUR. SHIP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs before punching Galen in the stomach, lifting him off the deck and over the railing, only to bounce off the side of the Renegade into the ocean.

Breathing heavily at all the Aura he just used, he turned back to Misty and moved to try to break her binds.

"The grapples are cut! Time to go!" Gary turned up to the helm, where he saw Captain Jack and Lucian standing, the former barking orders. He grinned and turned back to Misty to finish breaking her binds.

But the expression on her face, seeing Gary's eyes burning bright blue, having literally just punched someone off a ship, it was similar to the one she gave Galen, and it worried him. When he finally did break her binds and saw her begin crawling away from him, he realized what it was he saw. '_Fear. Is she afraid of me?'_

* * *

"Ash! Now!"

Blasting his fourth pirate away with Aura, Ash turned to Riley and nodded, gathering up a large pulse of Aura and firing it into the mast the two brothers were fighting next two.

When the grapples came, the two had jumped ship to the Renegade and had kept the majority of the pirates busy while the Samiya worked to deal with the grapples. Now that they were no longer an issue, the Aura Guardians used their abilities to decimate the masts aboard the Renegade, intent on making sure they wouldn't be able to follow them.

With that done, Riley, Lucario, Ash and Pikachu started heading towards the port side to jump back to the Samiya when a massive red blue slammed down in front of them.

"Yea weren't plannin' on leavin' without sayin' goo'bye, were yea?" questioned a booming voice as the red mass turned around. Standing tall and strong was a man in a crimson and gold greatcoat, with a massive teal beard tied with belts and a Chatot on his shoulder.

"Ya see, there be two types o' people on this planet. There are the strong, then there be the weak!" he shouted as he rushed Riley with a punch, only for the Aura Guardian to dodge.

"Rawk, two types o' people!" his Chatot repeated before unleashing a Hyper Voice attack at the duo and their Pokémon.

Ash attempted to form a shield of Aura to block it, but was blasted back anyways, Pikachu getting knocked to the floor. Annoyed at the Music Note Pokémon, Pikachu began charging a Thunderbolt as Ash sat up. "Piikaaa…CHUUUU!"

Turning away from the now neon-glowing Flying-type, Ash saw Lucario and Riley fighting against Phantom in hand to hand combat, and they were losing. Thinking quickly, Ash decided to turn his superior size against him. He charged an Aura Sphere with a grin. "Hey Phantom!"

Unleashing one more staggering punch against the Fight/Steel type, Phantom turned around to glare at Ash. "Don't worry boy, yer next!"

At that, Ash unleashed his attack on the deck below Phantom, which left a cloud of smoke and a large creaking noise, before the sound of screaming and wood breaking filled the night air.

Grabbing Pikachu, Ash ran around the cloud and found Lucario and Riley coughing but upright. "Come on! We've got to get back to the ship!" Ash told them urgently, not wanting to get left behind.

Agreeing with his brother, the four of them all ran to the port rail and hurled themselves over to the Samiya.

"_We're here, GO!" _Lucario alerted Lucian and Alakazam, and with that, sailed were let loose and they began pulling away from the Renegade, causing a cheer to go up from the crew.

As they four made their way to the raised Quarterdeck at the rear of the ship, and specifically the helm, they saw Jack walk to the back of the ship and stare back at the Renegade. They were still close enough to see the Phantom standing at the bow, screaming profanities to the stern of their ship to no avail.

"Ahoy Phantom!" the captain shouted. "You will always remember this as the day that you almost caught _Captain_ Jack Walker!"

* * *

While the crew celebrated their victory and the fact that land had _finally_ come into sight, Gary had gone in search of Misty, who had apparently vanished once the lines were cut. Leaving Umbreon in their cabin to get some much needed rest, Gary set out in search of his friend, becoming very worried that those pirates cost him something very dear to him.

'_I need to find her. I need to straighten things out.'_

About an hour later, several minutes from dock, he finally found her at the stern of the ship, on a lower level directly below the captain's cabin that was relatively open, providing a decent view of the sea behind them from the railing.

Quietly and cautiously he took a spot next to her, rather unsure of what to say. Misty, however, beat him to it.

"Thanks. For earlier, I mean," she told him nervously. Bags were beginning to form under her eyes from the fight, the length of the voyage, and the emotional ride the girl had dealt with today.

Sighing, Gary thought about what to say for a moment before responding. "I'm… I'm sorry about earlier. I just…" Taking a deep breath, he continued. "When he threatened you like that, something just… broke, I guess. I can't really explain it, but everything in me wanted to make sure he'd never lay a hand on you. I'm sorry if… well…"

It was her turn to sigh. "No, I should be thanking you. If that creep had taken me back to his ship…" She stopped, shivering at the thought. She was surprised, however, when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders warmly, and despite her fear earlier of what he was capable of, part of her somehow knew her fear was unwarranted. And she felt safe.

'_The thought of her getting taken aboard that ship… The look in his eye… I couldn't bear it,' _he thought to himself.

'_Maybe he does care,' _she thought to herself, still conflicted. She'd seen what he was capable of, and it scared her slightly. '_He's definitely not the boy I grew up with. I often forget that he's training to become an Aura Guardian. But he did go to those lengths, both him and Eev-Umbreon, I mean, just to save me.'_

The two stood like that for a while, just tired after the fight. But he felt happy that she was alright, and she felt safe, like nothing could threaten her. And that was enough for them.

* * *

_So, yeaaaaah, I kinda had to put that in there. Hopefully everyone's enjoying it, next chapter will likely focus on Max and Dawn, seeing as Ash and May, and now Misty and Gary have had a lot of time in the spotlight. As usual, feedback is awesome and encouraged, and I greatly appreciate everyone who've taken the time to read my work and encourage me to continue on, it's been amazing for me. So thank you, enjoy, and God bless!_


	10. There's no place like Sinnoh

_Evening all. Sorry for the wait, was busy most of the weekend, so I've been working to get this chapter up. Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon, setting, characters, ect._

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

"There it is! Canalave City!" the blunette shouted excitedly. "We're home, Piplup!"

"Piplup, pip piplup!" the Penguin Pokémon cried, happy to finally return to Sinnoh with his Trainer.

"So this is Sinnoh," May said, glancing at the landmass that lay in front of her in the early afternoon light. Towards the center of the continent she was a tall mounting rising up to the clouds. On her right, she saw a cold-looking coastal region, ending with a fairly large city, bisected by a large canal. To her left, she saw a small island chain off the coast, while Sinnoh continued to extend north into what looked to be frozen wastes.

"Pika…" the Pokémon said in awe.

"You said it, Pikachu," his Trainer replied, looking around in wonder. "Look at all the Pokémon! I've never seen one of those before," he said, pointing at a large orange Pokémon with what looked like an inflatable inner tube around it's neck.

"That's a Floatzel," their redhead companion informed them, which caused Gary to look at her oddly.

"How did you know that?" he asked curiously.

"Simple," she replied, shrugging and smiling. "It's a Water-type. What, did you think you were the only one allowed to know things?" she teased with a smirk reminiscent of Gary's own signature smirk.

Max couldn't share in their enthusiasm as much as he wished to, rubbing his hands up and down his arms trying to warm them up. "Is it always so _cold_?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"No need to worry!" she said, grinning. "If I remember correctly, it should be the very end of winter, so things should start warming up in the next few weeks," Dawn continued helpfully.

"So, you live in Canalave City, Dawn?" May inquired curiously as she cradled Bubbles in her arms like a mother.

"Nope. Actually, Piplup and I are from Twinleaf Town, to the southeast of Lake Verity. I lived with my mom and her Glameow until a few years ago until when Lucian took me on as an apprentice Tactician."

'_I wonder why she became a Tactician,'_ Max found himself thinking.

"Good, you're all here."

Turning, the group of teens saw Lucian and Alakazam standing behind them, the former clasping his hands behind him. "We dock in ten minutes. Grab your things, we're due in Jubilife City four hours from now," he told them before heading back towards the helm.

* * *

Canalave City was quite the sight to the group of foreigners, Rotan and Hoenn alike. The Samiya had docked on the west side of the port city, which meant they had to cross over the large canal that bisected the city.

Even with the hurry they were in to reach the capital, May, being the shopper she was, still managed to purchase a small souvenir in the form of a Lunar Wing, a yellow-green feather on a necklace that was said to make bad dreams a thing of the past.

'_True, I haven't had any bad dreams since Ash gave me that bandana, but hey, a girl can't be too careful!' _she thought to herself as she admired the feather while the group made their way east over Route 218. '_I think Lucian said it was a feather from a Pokémon called Cresselia. Maybe I'll ask Gary about it later.'_

Turning her attention to the group around her rather than her new shiny, she reached up, admiring the soft Kalosian silk of her bandana as began thinking about her opinion of each of her companions.

First, obviously, was her little brother Max. While she was two years older than him at eighteen, he still managed to have more confidence than she had when it came to Pokémon. Sure, she had become a Trainer for her Swablu, but she was still unsure of herself and how she'd manage to progress.

Next up was Dawn. Since the Hoenn siblings joined the group, Dawn had been welcoming, kind and helpful. Granted, her and Max had a bit of a rivalry going on, but May figured that, eventually, the two would gair each others respect and become friends.

Dawn's mentor, Lucian, was much more reserved and dignified than his apprentice, but he also had the air of someone who would be at home either on a battlefield or in royal court. At first, he intimidated her a bit, but she had since come to realize he was simply focused on saving his nation.

After that was Gary and Misty. She still couldn't figure those two out. Gary seemed like a nice guy, if a bit of a flirt from what she witnessed in Pewter City, Viridian City, and on the ship to Sinnoh, but he was also really smart when it came to Pokémon in general. Misty was pretty nice, assuming you didn't anger her. She also seemed very protective of Gary, and she had a faint idea why. May had seen the redhead with her mallet in action, and she knew two things; She didn't want to get on Misty's bad side, and stay the heck away from Gary when Misty was around.

And finally, the Ketchum brothers. Riley, the older of the two, seemed to be the leader of the Rotan group, and tends to offer Lucian advice or his opinion when asked. Overall, he seemed fairly responsible, and with Lucario, the two were terrors in combat, as she saw the night of Phantom's attack. While she had been told to stay below deck due to her inexperience, she and Bubbles had hazarded a peek topside during the battle, watching the two fight in perfect sync, as if one person was controlling them.

Ash, on the other hand, seemed to be more rash, often acting without thinking. While she would normally think that was a problem, it _had_ saved her life, and she knew that Ash risked his life for the sake of others.

Ever since May was a little girl, her mother had told her the story of a heroic Aura Guardian from another land, who sacrificed himself for his love and his kingdom, saving it from war. Now here she was, having been saved from a long fall and a sudden stop, a horde of angry Beedrill, a psychotic Fearow intent on turning Bubbles into it's lunch, and most recently from a ship full of pirates by that same Order of Aura Guardians.

Add to that the fact that Ash helped her become a Trainer by saving Bubbles, along with the fact that he bought her the bandana she had seen in Pewter City simply to make her feel better, she was beginning to wonder if she had somehow stumbled into a romance novel without realizing it. After all, he had saved her, he was fairly sweet, and she did have to admit, though not aloud of course, that he was rather cute. Not stunningly handsome, like some of the nobles she'd met back in Hoenn, but cute enough, she supposed.

Growing up, May had her father trying to convince her either to become a Pokémon Trainer or to meet a nice noble to expand the holdings of the Maple family, while her mother and grandfather encouraged her to follow her own dreams. And now, at eighteen, she still wasn't sure what those dreams were. Sure, she got to travel the world, making deliveries for her family's business, specifically the business of stones, Evolutionary and otherwise, but she still wasn't sure where she saw herself a few years from now.

Still, she was paid well, though if she wanted to, she'd never have to work a day in her life with how well placed her family was. But the thought of being some simple maiden to be married off to some brat of a noble didn't thrill her, shockingly. And thus she currently found herself with a group of Rotans, traveling in Sinnoh to take delivery of a set of Evolutionary stones for her family.

She was shaken from her thoughts as she walked into the back of Riley, who had stopped for some reason. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked around him and saw what had caused the group to stop. Up ahead a mile or two was the capital of Western Sinnoh. Jubilife City, City of Joy.

* * *

"Alright, I'll go on ahead with Riley and explain the situation to her highness, Queen Shirona. I'll send for you once we know more about what's going on in Sinnoh at the moment, and decide upon a course of action," the purple-haired master Tactician told the teens, before tossing a small pouch towards his apprentice. "Try not to go through all that silver please, Dawn."

As the six teens watched Lucian, Alakazam, Riley and Lucario head off towards the palace, leaving them in the center of town, they began discussing what they wanted to do. They finally decided that the girls would go shopping while the boys would go off to train a bit before all getting dinner in the city later, giving both groups some time to recharge a bit.

A few minutes later, Ash, Pikachu, Gary, Umbreon, Max and Kirlia all found themselves outside the city, with the two Aura Guardians sparring and Max helping Kirlia perfect his Magical Leaf slightly away from them, but in earshot.

"So Ashy-boy, I noticed you gave May that give of yours," the brunette said as he tried to sweep Ash's legs out from under him with a quick side kick.

"Yeah, I gave it to her after we left Cinnabar," Ash replied quickly as he jumped over the sweep, delivering an quick push to Gary's chest to gain some space, circling for their next attack.

"My little Ashy's growing up," he taunted, before charging with a jump-punch towards his raven-haired opponent, who quickly ducked and grabbed Gary's arm, turning and flipping him onto his back with a grunt.

"You implying something, Oak?" he asked as he offered Gary a hand up.

"Only that you've been spending a lot of time with her lately, and, well, people are talkin'," he said as he stood, gaining Max's interest. "So, anything there?" he asked with a wink.

Ash's face turned as red as an Arcanine. "I don't know what you're talking about, Gary," he lied, feeling like he had just taken a flamethrower attack to the face.

"Come on, Ashy-boy, spill!" he goaded, clearly enjoying the new shades of red Ash's face was turning.

"Yeah, what is up with you two anyways?" Max chimed in, curious about the two of them as well. '_Sure, guys have been interested in May before, but most of them back in Hoenn were annoying nobles like Drew,'_ he thought to himself as he watched Ash's face continue to impersonate a Razz Berry.

"There's nothing to spill," he replied rather quickly, looking at Pikachu to help him out. Unfortunately for him, the Mouse Pokémon was currently sparring with the newly evolved Umbreon, though Ash thought he saw a smirk on his partners face.

"Come on Ash, I'm not blind, ya know! You've been hanging with her every free moment you get, and I know you've been making an impression on her, right Max?" Gary asked, crossing his arms.

"Uh… How should I know?" he asked the brunette.

Gary facepalmed at this, giving Ash the opportunity to strike back. "How about you and Misty?"

Going board stiff, Gary glanced back at Ash, slightly nervous. "What about us?" he asked, trying to keep his cool.

"Well, you've been spending a lot of time with her, too. Anything going on between you two?" the raven-haired teen asked, turning the question back on Gary.

In all the time Ash had known his best friend, this was possibly the first time he ever saw Gary Oak give up an argument. Sighing, the brunette replied "I don't know, honestly."

Ash's brow furrowed and his mouth hung open a few centimeters. "What?" he asked, not quite believing Gary's answer.

The brunette sighed again before continuing. "Alright, you and I both know that she has a tendency of hitting me more often whenever another girl's around, and you saw for yourself, she almost gave me a concussion when she caught up to us after we left Rota. What am I supposed to think?" he asked, looking uncharacteristically unsure.

Pikachu and Umbreon had since finished their battle, with Pikachu hopping onto Ash's shoulder while Umbreon nuzzled Gary's hand. Both Pokémon were also very interested in the discussion the three teens were having.

"Well, you two grew up together, right?" Max asked, tapping his chin in thought.

"Yeah, her, Ash and I all grew up in Rota until she was eight and we were seven. Her parents were killed in a rockslide, so her and her sisters moved south to Cerulean City to live with their uncle," he explained.

"Well, if you want my opinion, it sounds like she's got a crush on you, Gary," Max told him. "From what she's said, you three were fairly inseparable when you were younger, and despite all the things Ash has done for May, she never really appeared annoyed, at least to me. You, however…"

"Yeah, I so much as look at another girl and she turns the same color as her hair," he replied. "Maybe you're right, Max. What do you think, guys?"

Umbreon was the first to respond, nodding to his trainer. "Umbre, um."

"Well, it would kinda explain why she didn't bash my head into the ground when she caught up with us…" Ash stated after a bit.

"Pika, pikachu chupi," the yellow mouse told him with a nod.

Sighing again, Gary sat down onto the grass. "So, you guys really think she likes me?" he asked, his signature smirk falling into place.

"Seems a logical conclusion to me," Max confirmed. "As for May, I don't know. She's always been more focused on fun than boys."

"So she's had boys after her before?" Ash blurted without thinking. As the two other teens and even the three Pokémon looked at him oddly, he began to feel his face heat up. '_Why did I even ask that, anyways?'_ he wondered.

"A few," Max replied. "The most annoying was this guy named Drew LaRousse. Apparently his family have been nobles of LaRousse City in Hoenn for generations, and he doesn't ever let you forget it. He was always giving May roses whenever he'd show up, but he was always more interested in proving himself better than everyone," he told them bitterly. "The only others I can think of were Brendan Birch and Sid Shota, but she mostly ignored them, too."

'_So she's got at least three nobles interested in her, giving her flowers and all that… What chance have I got, then?'_ Ash thought dejectedly to himself.

Noticing his pal's reaction, looking depressed, Pikachu decided to give a few words of encouragement. "Pikapi, pikachu pika pi chu kachu," he told him, raising his paw determinedly.

"Pikachu's right, Ash. What have you got to lose? I mean, she's cute, no offense Max."

"None taken."

"Seriously, you've saved her life enough times in the last two weeks to basicly finish your Trials already, you got her that bandana and a bloody Pokémon for crying out loud!" Gary told him with a grin. "She's gotta be at least a little interested, you know girls eat that romantic stuff up for breakfast!"

Ash smiled slightly. "Alright, alright, I guess Pikachu is right," he relenting, causing Gary to glare at his omission. "So, first thing first, how do you feel about all this, Max?" he asked, reaching up to scratch Pikachu under the chin.

"Unlike those stuffed shirts who dad tried to set her up with back in Hoenn, you I can stand. But the point is rather moot, since we're heading to Eterna City soon. And while what I think is irrelevant, seeing as it's her choice and not mine, I think you'd treat her well, so you've got my vote," the sixteen-year old told him. "And who knows," he continued. "If she does decide to stay with you guys, I can always bring the evolution stones back to Hoenn myself."

"See? Times a'tickin', Ashy-boy, and what have you got to lose?" the brunette told him with a slap to the back.

Ash thought about it for a while before nodding with his trademark determined grin. "You're right. What have I got to lose?"

* * *

"So May, why the change in bandana?" Dawn asked as the trio of girls, plus Piplup and Bubbles entered the latest shop in their tour of the city.

"Don't know. Just decided to wear it today, being we're in a new region and all," she replied as she checked out a few blouses in the shop, attention focused more on deal finding rather than talking.

"Isn't that the one Ash got you?" Misty asked, holding up a yellow shirt with purple trim to see how it'd look, oblivious to the look May was now giving her.

"Yeah… How did you know that?" she asked, now focused more on her companions than shopping.

"Gary told me he bought a blue bandana for you back in Pewter City. I took a guess and figured that was the one he was talking about," she replied, deciding that yellow and purple did not go together at all.

"It looks great on you," Dawn complimented. "Wonder how much it cost," she continued offhandedly as she continued looking for anything worth her money.

"Seven silver pieces."

Both girls spun to look at the now blushing May. Misty was the first to find her voice again.

"Ash spent _seven silver_ on that for you?" she asked in wonder. "Dang, he must really like you."

This only further reddened the teen as she tried to focus on the clothing, and not the fact that her face likely resembled a Magby. "I wouldn't go that far… After all, we've only known each other for a week or two…" she defended, trying not to make a big deal of it.

"Still, seven silver? Did you ask him for it?" Dawn inquired, now standing near the brunette with a rather mischievous smile.

'_Alright, that smile has officially unnerved me...'_ she thought to herself. "Well, no. I saw it in a booth in the Pewter market, but come on, seven silver? Way too expensive for a bandana, I mean, I got my coat for just two. Ash was with me at the time, we kinda bumped into each other in the marketplace and just started talking, but I'd never ask him for something like that," she told the two girls.

Misty's expression was one of disbelief. "Welp, miracles do apparently exist. Never thought I'd see the day when something other than Pokémon and being an Aura Guardian like his father got through to the Ash, the densest boy on the planet."

"Really?" May asked, frowning slightly.

"May, when we were younger, I had the biggest crush on him for years. I could have worn a sign around my neck that said 'I love you Ash' and he'd have missed it completely. He was that dense," Misty told her with an amused grin, which confused the girl.

"If that's the case, why are you so happy he's supposedly finally interested in and girl and it's not you?" May asked, hoping that this wouldn't put her firmly in the redhead's ire.

She was surprised when she heard her chuckle instead. "I gave up on him years ago. During one visit to Rota, I told him I like him, and he just told me he liked me too, but I could tell it was more of a friend way. I didn't think he'd grasp the concept of _more_ than friends, but I don't think I've ever heard of him buying something like that for someone, especially without being asked or told."

"Sounds like he's sweet on you~," Dawn told her in a singsong voice, much to the brunette's embarrassment.

"Come on, you two, it's not like that. I'm sure it's nothing," she told them, though she was beginning to sound as if she was trying to convince herself more than them.

"Well, what about you? What do you think of him? Or do you already have a boyfriend?" Dawn asked, refusing to let the topic go, much to the brunette's agitation.

"Nosey, aren't we?" she asked indignantly before sighing. "No, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. A few guys back in Hoenn tried, but I really couldn't see myself settling down with them _and_ their egos…" she explained.

"Still doesn't tell me how you feel about Ash," the blunette prodded, blissfully ignorant of the annoyed stare from both May and Misty that were directed at her.

'_Note to self; never tell Dawn my life story,' _May thought to herself. "Come on, Dawn, it's nothing!" she tried again, only to be denied again.

"Nope, spill! Come ooooon…" she whined.

"Dawn, is this really necessary?" their redheaded companion asked. "You've gone through this, right? Why pester her so much about it?"

The lack of a defiant answer caused both May and Misty to examine the girl, only to see her poking her index fingers together nervously. "Well… not exactly," she confessed. "I was taken as an apprentice when I was younger, and most guys around my age are…" she paused, searching for the right word. "Let's go with childish," she finally settled on. "And moving around so much like I do means I've got to live that aspect of my life vicariously through you two."

May and Misty blinked at each other. "What do you mean 'two'?" MIsty finally asked cautiously, suddenly worried.

The blunette smiled again, clasping her hands. "Oh, don't worry, I want to know about you and Gary soon, too!" she stated, her cheer back in full force.

Misty, however, was borderline horrified. "WHAT?! Me and _Gary?!_" she shouted, suddenly looking nervous at being the target in the trios conversation.

May herself looked slightly amused, glad to no longer be the target of the blunette's inquisition.

"Of course you and Gary," the blunette told her, as if it was obvious. "You think I forgot meeting you two in Rota?"

"What happened in Rota?" May asked, having not met them yet.

"I found Ash and Gary sparring in Rota when I met them. Gary introduced himself, and then referred to me as beautiful. Misty promptly knocked him out," Dawn explained with a smirk. "After that, I just kinda noticed that whenever he talked with a girl, Misty would get annoyed. Doesn't take a scholar to put it together," she finished, quite pleased with herself.

Misty, however, was again turning the color of her hair, but not due to anger, but rather embarrassment.

May decided to take her own guess at this. "So, after you gave up on Ash, you started a crush on Gary?" she asked, trying not to provoke the redhead.

Misty sighed. "If I hear _either _of you repeat _any_ of this, I will find and end you, got it?" she asked the two, with a look in her eyes that said she'd follow through with it. After receiving two mildly terrified nods, she calmed down and relented.

"Yes, I have a bit of a crush on Gary, alright? But you can't tell him that! He'd never let me hear the end of it," she told them, her expression falling. "After all, he probably thinks I'm just some pushy pain in the neck after all the times I've lost my temper with him."

"Aw, come on Mist," Dawn told her. "I'm sure if you asked him out, he'd say yes. After all, you two have been best friends for years."

"I'm not sure about that, Dawn…" Misty replied, still feeling down.

"What have you got to lose?" May asked, causing Misty to look at the brunette. What did she have to lose, after all?

Taking a breath, she nodded. "Alright, maybe you're right. I'll make you a deal, May. If you talk to Ash, I'll talk to Gary."

The brunette's eyes widened slightly. "Uh…" she began, before getting cut off by Dawn.

"What do _you _have to lose, May? It's obvious you like him, and pretty obvious he likes you too. Besides, Piplup and I can help you! No need to worry!"

"That's when I worry the most…" she replied.

* * *

_And there you have it, Chapter ten done. I'll be doing the dinner next chapter, along with some new characters being introduced. As always, feedback is encouraged, sorry for the wait, and God bless!_


	11. Knocked Down a Peg

_So, yeaaaaah, been busy. Sorry for the delay, but I've been swamped in RL lately. I'm probably going to work on some edits of the first few chapters, reformatting them, so consider this Sunday's post. I'll continue working on this, I just had trouble with getting this chapter right, had to rewrite it three times before I got to where I'm happy with it. Anyways, On to the chapter! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, characters, setting, ect.  
_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

_Dear Riley,_

_It gladdens me to hear your journey is going well. It sounds as if you're enjoying yourself. Things remain quiet at the palace, thankfully, though I do find myself bored more often than not with the silence. _

_My days are mostly taken up by learning about the political climate. The Kantonese are pursuing a trade agreement with Hoenn, the Unovans and the Kalosians are brokering a non-aggression pact, and I get to hear about it in vivid, painstakingly long detail…_

_I guess what I'm trying to say is I miss you, and pray for your safe return. I look forward to the festival._

_Ilene._

* * *

Jubilife City. City of Joy. But inside the castle of that city, there were a trio of people who were anything but joyful. Atop her throne, Queen Cynthia Shirona tried her best to appease the two boys, each with heads of purple hair, a stark contrast to the Queen's own blonde hair.

"I can assure you, master Shinji, that we're doing everything in our power to come to a solution for this situation that won't result in war. The citizens of Veilstone aren't the only ones who are suffering from the Mad King's machinations," Queen Shirona told her guests, the leaders of the Veilstone Resistance. "Our main priority is keeping this situation from escalating into a full blown war. The people of Eastern Sinnoh suffered far more than they should have during the Mad King's War. We're sympathetic to your plight."

"Funny. Only took you seven years and Charon helping Cyrus to finally get around to doing something about our 'plight'," the younger of the two leaders said bitterly.

"Paul!" his older brother shouted before turning back to the queen. "I'm deeply sorry about my brother's attitude. The… The Mad King's War is a bit of a touchy subject, as you can imagine," he told the queen, bowing apologetically.

Though brothers, the two leaders were quite different from one another, Queen Shirona noted. The older of the two, Reggie Shinji, was slightly taller, with long, dark purple hair pulled into a ponyta-tail on the back of his head. He wore fairly plain clothes, a simple shirt and pants in pink and grey, respectively, along with a heavy apron, likely from his work as a former Pokémon Breeder. From her interactions, he seemed to be the more level-headed and optimistic of the two.

Paul, on the other hand, was slightly shorter, as was his hair, coming down to his chin. She also noted it was lighter than Reggie's. Wearing a knee-length open greatcoat in dark purple and black, it was clear the two had very different tastes. She also noted that he seemed much more cynical and direct. She would have to describe him as brutally honest.

"No, Paul is correct," the Queen told them, standing from her throne. "While we prefer to avoid the politics of Eastern Sinnoh, we should have recognized earlier that King Charon would become a problem. The raids on Eterna City only confirm the fact that Western Sinnoh can no longer stand by, as he plans to bring all of Sinnoh into his war. Paul's anger is justified, but at the moment, we need to focus on Charon, not casting blame."

Paul was clearly not happy at this, but grunted in agreement. "He'll never give up power willingly, that much I assure you. He killed King Soren for it seven years ago. Unless you want to be caught in his war, he needs to die," he stated emotionlessly, which slightly unnerved Cynthia, speaking so openly about murdering his king as if he were discussing dinner choices.

"While I don't exactly agree with your solution, I agree with the sentiment. Charon needs to be dealt with. Which is exactly why we're waiting for the return of Tactician Lucian Goyo with word on his assignment," she told the two.

"And what assignment would that be, if I may ask your Highness?" Reggie asked politely, causing Paul to roll his eyes.

Cynthia was about to respond when the doors to her throne room opened and a messenger came in. "Your Highness! Master Lucian has returned!"

"Looks like you can ask him yourself, master Shinji," she replied with a smile as she saw Lucian and Alakazam enter the throne room, followed by a man in blue and a Lucario, causing Cynthia to blink in disbelief.

'_Impossible,'_ she thought. '_He died during the war...'_

Upon reaching the throne, Lucian bowed deeply with a smile. "Your Majesty, I return, and as you can see, my mission was successful. Might I introduce Sir Riley Arlon and Lucario of the Kingdom of Rota," he stated.

"_It has been some time, Lady Cynthia,"_ they heard in their heads, causing the Shinji's to glance around before focusing on Lucario.

"Indeed… It has, Lucario," Cynthia said in disbelief, still slightly shocked. "I had heard that you and Sir Aaron were killed at the end of the Unovan Blitz. So Sir Riley would be…?" She asked.

"_Sir Aaron and Lady Delia's son. Their other son, Ash, is also with our group" _he responded telepathically, causing Lucian to nod.

"The Aura Guardians have agreed to assist us, but have stated they wish to keep Rota out of our war," the Tactician replied. "Along with Sir Riley and Lucario, my group also consists of a pair of Junior Aura Guardians on their trials, a pair of Hoenn couriers, a red headed hothead from Cerulean City, and my apprentice, Berlitz. It's been an… interesting two weeks," he informed them with a dry grin.

"And this helps us how, exactly?" Paul asked, quickly becoming annoyed at the amount of time they were wasting.

"The Aura Guardians are a neutral party," Cynthia explained. "Because of that, they can take the complaints of both your resistance and my nation to King Charon as messengers, and depending on how he reacts, we can prepare a course. War is our last resort, but I won't rule it out if all else fails," she told them diplomatically.

Riley took the opportunity to clear his throat. "The Order sent Lucario and I to examine the situation and advise them upon a course of action. Perhaps you could explain what's been happening?" he asked, folding his hands behind him politely.

"In short, Cyrus and Charon are attempting to provoke a war with us," she told him, sitting back on her throne. "For the past few months, the Galactic mercenary guild, formerly of Western Sinnoh, defected to East Sinnoh. Since then, they've been raiding the various towns in West Sinnoh, such as Oreburgh City and Eterna City. Their leader, Cyrus, made a deal with the East King, Charon, for refuge in Veilstone City in exchange for supplies, Pokémon, and even several kidnapping victims from the West. They've since gained complete control over the city are have forced many, including my other guests here, Reggie and Paul Shinji, to form a resistance against both Galactic and King Charon himself," she concluded, motioning for Reggie to continue.

"Galactic need to be stopped, but officially, they're protected by King Charon. That means that when we stand up against them, trying to stop them from taking whatever they want from us, they brand us outlaws, and the Mad King's army try to hunt us down," he told them.

"In short," Paul continued, "The Kingslayer Charon is taxing our people in the East into the streets, gave Veilstone over to that terrorist Cyrus, and brands anyone who opposes him a traitor to the state. He won't negotiate, and he certainly won't bow to any foreign power after he killed his own king to take the throne. You're going to have to drag him out of Hearthome City if you want him removed," he concluded bitterly.

"The Aura Guardians will do whatever we can to defuse the situation," Riley told them, trying to placate the younger Shinji, but all he received was an eye roll.

"Alright, gentlemen," Queen Shirona began, "Let us begin planning this out."

* * *

Several hours later, Paul was finally free of the throne room, his brother, and this country's useless queen. As he stalked through town, he was flanked by his trusted companion, Electivire. The powerful Thunderbolt Pokémon, with it's yellow and black fur, stood proudly at his trainer's side, matching his six foot height. Clawed feet, a pair of long, black tails, thick arms the width of a human torso, and a bulbous, dome-like head with a pair of antenna protruding completed the Pokémon's intimidating appearance and lent to it's already considerable infamy in East Sinnoh.

Alongside them strode another member of the Veilstone Resistance, one Conway Kohei. Slightly taller than Paul at six feet, three inches, Conway was someone Paul tolerated due to his advanced tactical mind. Wearing his midnight green hair around the same length as Paul, he wore a set of glasses, along with a green shirt with forest green vest. Long blue pants and sandals completed his look, and Paul wondered for the hundredth time how Conway managed to put up with his footwear in the cold.

Floating alongside him was his Requiem Pokémon, Duskull. Black in color, it's rag-like body was decorated with a pair of bones on it's back, and a stylized skull for a face, with a large, glowing red eye that moved between the two sockets.

The two of them had proven themselves against Galactic several times now, and Paul trusted them to an extent. His primary complaint with Conway was his… hobby. In his spare time, Conway was known to stalk people. Paul found him pathetic because of this, but he was competent in a combat and tactical sense, so he tolerated the teens antics.

"Reggie, The Queen and her pet Tactician, and the Aura Guardians are discussing our next move. Until then, we're stuck in this complacent waste of a city," Paul informed his comrade as they walked towards the central plaza of the city, both looking for something to eat.

"Hmm… Well, logic would dictate, with an Aura Guardian in their pocket, they'll likely suggest the Oreburgh path through Coronet to Hearthome City. Assuming they plan to use the Guardian's neutrality to gain an audience with Charon," Conway concluded, pushing his glasses up his nose with a smirk.

"Let's just hope they're as good as the tales tell. We both know Charon would sooner kill them than negotiate," he replied, glancing at Conway. "We're still a long way from finishing this-Oof!" he said as he was knocked off balance. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked down and saw a blunette girl holding her head in pain.

'_Blue hair… It can't be...'_ he thought to himself, studying the girl. '_She sure looks like it...'_

"Ow! Watch where you're going next time!" She told him as she glared up at him, no recognition in her eyes. Her Piplup began looking at her head for any bumps, while a group of teenagers watched from behind her with a variety of expressions.

'_Different accent, different mannerisms. Let's test out something,' _he thought to himself, suddenly suspicious. But before he could say anything, Conway beat him too it.

"Well, He-llo Princess!"

The girl froze, glaring back up at Conway, while Paul grimaced. '_Note to self; have Electivire break his legs,' _Paul thought to himself, annoyed.

"Where have you been for the last few years of my life?" Conway continued to the now standing and annoyed blunette.

"What are you talking about, creep?" She replied she and her Piplup glared defiantly up at the lanky teen.

'_No reaction to Princess. Probably not, then,'_ Paul thought to himself before stepping in.

"Pardon him, he's brilliant but doesn't always think," he told the group. Apart from the blunette, he also saw a pair of other girls and a trio of boys, with various Pokémon among them. One of them, he noted, looked like a slightly shorter, younger version of Conway.

"As for watching where I'm going," he continued, "I'm fairly certain you walked into me."

"WHAT!?" she shouted as her glare intensified. "Excuse me, your rudeness, but you ran into me! Apologize!"

Paul replied with an eye roll, which only served to increase the blunette's anger. '_Just what I need, a drama queen who looks like her.'_

"Just who do you think you are, you jerk!?" she cried, balling her hands into fists.

"Dawn, calm down. We were looking for dinner, remember?" the brunette girl of their party told her companion softly, lightly placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hn," he said as he began walking away with his Electivire. Conway stood looking between the retreating Paul and the blunette, torn between the two. That is, until the blunette decided to give it one last shot.

"What, you think you're better than me?!"

"Yes," he called behind him as he and Electivire continued walking, causing the blunette to become infuriated.

Conway wisely decided to take the opportunity to catch back up as he heard the blunette begin shouting a string of insults and mild profanities at their backs.

"You have such a way with people," he told his purple-haired companion.

"Shut up."

* * *

"I cannot believe him!" Dawn stated for the third time over dinner. The group had found a place to eat that served ramen shortly after running into the two mysterious boys in the plaza, partly due to the fact that Dawn was far too angry to lead, which allowed Gary to find a place with relative ease. And since sitting down, anytime food wasn't in her mouth, Dawn was venting her frustrations for the purple-haired teen.

"I mean, come on, it's basic common courtesy! He didn't even apologize for running into me!"

"Dawn, I think you're taking this way too seriously," Gary told her. "So you ran into someone who happens to be a rude, childish brat. So what? Are you seriously going to devote your entire evening to that jerk?"

Gary's words finally caused her to quiet down and take a breath. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right. Besides, why spoil tonight on him, anyways? Alright, no more talk about them," she replied, feeling her old self coming around again. '_I've gotta give it a rest. After all, Misty and May can't make any progress if I'm obsessing over some jerk and his creep of a friend,' _she thought to herself.

As dinner went on, conversation shifted from their earlier incident to future plans. May and Max unfortunately were planning to leave for Eterna City tomorrow morning, while Misty planned to stick with the Aura Guardians on their mission. Dawn would likely go wherever Lucian went, depending on if he was assigned to guide the Guardians or not. So, with the future up in the air, the six teens enjoyed one last meal together.

After the six ate their fill of ramen, with Ash and May nearly eating the kitchen staff out of noodle and home, they finally headed out into the cool evening air.

"Beautiful evening, huh?" Dawn remarked to no one in particular, looking up at the orange skies above them.

"Agreed," May replied, quite content after having eaten enough ramen to make most chefs cry.

"Alright, Lucario just told me that we're sleeping at the Palace tonight, so just head there when we're ready," Ash told them.

"So, in that case, what do you guys want to do now?" Gary asked his companions.

"I think I might take Bubbles and go stock up on supplies in town, seeing as Max and I will be leaving tomorrow," May replied.

"Want a hand?" asked a certain raven-haired teen, to which the brunette nodded.

"Uh… sure, Ash. I don't see why not," she told him, suddenly nervous. '_I was planning on using the time to think of what to say to him, given we're leaving tomorrow… No, stop it. You can do this, May!' _she encouraged herself and her and Ash headed back towards the plaza.

"How about you, Gary? What're your plans?" Misty asked, spurred by a sharp, unexpected elbow from a certain scheming blunette.

"I was actually about to get supplies for our own group. You three care to come?" he asked, glancing at the three.

"Sure, I'm game," Misty replied, before looking at Dawn.

Dawn, however, scratched the back of her head. "I think I'll pass, thanks. I was uh… Gonna train with Piplup! Yeah, that's right, right Piplup?"

Piplup just stared at her before she finally glared at him. "Pip, piplup pip!" he replied quickly, causing Dawn to return to smiling.

"Max, can you show me where you guys were training earlier?" she asked, giving him a wink out of sight of Gary or Misty.

Max sighed but nodded. "Sure, follow me," he said as he and Kirlia began heading back towards the training fields, leaving Gary and Misty to head into town after supplies.

After Max and Dawn got out of earshot, he finally asked "So, what was that about?"

"Can you keep a secret?" She asked him, giving him a conspiratorial grin as she hugged her Piplup to her chest. When he nodded with a confused expression, she continued. "From what I've gathered today, Misty kinda has a crush on Gary. I think May has one of Ash, too."

She was expecting a lot of things, but laughter was not one of them. "Hey, it's not funny!" she pouted, trying to defend herself.

"That's not what I'm laughing about," he managed to get out before calming down enough to talk. "I was laughing at the fact that I'd come to basicly the same conclusion about Ash and Gary earlier today. We were discussing it while we were training," he explained, still chuckling from time to time. His explanation also caused Dawn to begin giggling.

"So, The four of them all have crushes, with May and Ash, and Misty and Gary? Oh, this is too perfect!" she said, clearly happy for her friends, until she realized something. "But wait, even if things go well with May and Ash… You and her leave tomorrow," she said, her expression falling a bit.

Max simply smirked. "I told Ash that if he was going to try, I'd offer to finish the delivery so May could stay for the time being," he explained proudly.

Dawn replied by hugging him tightly and squeeing loudly, thoroughly startling the teen. "You're brilliant!" she told him as she finally let him go so he could continue leading the way.

'_What just happened?'_ he thought to himself, still slightly stunned as he walked, his brain on autopilot. He was about to ask, when he saw a large lightning bolt rising up near the training field they had been using before. And as they turned the corner, the two of them saw a pair of teens they had hoped to avoid.

"You!" Dawn shouted, quickly recognizing the Electivire and it's purple-haired trainer thoroughly thrashing the green-haired trainer's Duskull. The purple-haired trainer had his back to the pair, but he did turn his head. Only to see Dawn and dismiss her again, returning his attention to the battle.

"Electivire, finish this. Thunder Punch!" he called out, and Electivire responded, hurling a powerful, electrically charged fist dead into it's opponent, hurling him out of the training field.

He walked up to Electivire while his creepy friend went to check on Duskull. "That was weak," he told his Electivire, much to the shock of Dawn and Max.

"That looked plenty strong to me!" she told him as her and Max arrived at the training field.

Her comment, however, only annoyed the trainer. "Not surprising, to someone like you," he said simply.

"What is _with_ you?" Dawn asked, clearly annoyed. "I was trying to compliment you!"

"I don't need advice from a weak trainer like you."

Max was speechless at this point, looking between the trainer, who was ignoring Dawn, and Dawn, who looked about ready to strangle him.

"How dare you!" she shouted. "I happen to be the apprentice of one of the greatest Tacticians of Sinnoh!"

"My point exactly. That explains your pathetic Piplup, and why you'd think that was a strong attack," he replied, finally turning to face her. His expression was cold, emotionless, just like his eyes, a gray charcoal color. "Tactician is a term to describe away weakness. The only thing that matters in battle is strength."

"That's what you think! Tacticians are stronger than you give us credit for!" she shot back, hands on her hips. Piplup mirrored her position as the two of them glared at Paul.

Max, however, was now glancing between the two. Did he agree with Paul? Yes. Did he like Paul? Not a chance, at this point. He agreed that strength is the only thing in battle, but he also believed his Pokémon was his partner. Paul treated his Electivire like a tool.

"Perhaps you and that pathetic Piplup would like to prove it, Troublesome?" he asked with a small, predatory grin, the first time either of them had seen him show some sort of emotion.

By this point, his creepy friend was at his side, Duskull in his arms. He pushed his glasses up his nose with a smirk. "I don't think so, Paul. Probably doesn't want to be humiliated," he taunted.

And that was the last straw. "Troublesome?! Alright, you're on!" she yelled. Heading to the other side of the field with Piplup, she prepared for battle, clearly infuriated with the one called Paul.

"Conway, play referee," Paul told his friend, who nodded, taking up a spot in the center sidelines.

Max watched her go and he knew she was not ready to fight this. Everything was against her, from Type Advantage to temperament advantage. She was furious, and that would lead to mistakes.

'_Wait, why am I even worried about this?'_ he thought to himself. '_This is the same girl who said Kirlia and I were wrong, why should I care if she get's crushed,'_ he thought as he took a seat on the sidelines with Kirlia, both watching the field intently.

"Electivire, standby for battle!" Paul called out as the Thunderbolt Pokémon took the field with a grin. Even after his battle with Duskull, he was more than ready to destroy the puny water-type and his pathetic trainer.

"Piplup, showtime!" Dawn called as Piplup puffed out it's chest proudly, defiantly glaring at the much larger Electric-type.

Paul simply smirked. "Thunder Punch, go!" he called, and just like that, his Electivire charged forward, raising a fist that was covered heavily in static energy.

"Piplup, dodge it!"

"Elec-ti-VIRE!" he cried as he charged, swinging his fist towards the now leaping Penguin Pokémon. Piplup, however, was slightly faster, managing to dodge the fist.

"Great, now use BubbleBeam!" she called out, and Piplup complied.

"Piiip-Lupluplup!" he shouted as he fired off a steady stream of small water projectiles towards the massive yellow Pokémon, scoring a direct hit.

"Yes! Great job, Piplup!" Dawn shouted, jumping up in joy of the hit. But when the mist cleared, both Electivire and Paul were smirking that same confident smirk.

"Electivire barely even felt that. I guess you're even weaker than I thought," he taunted, crossing his arms.

"We'll show you! Piplup, Hydro Pump!" she shouted, causing Piplup to begin charging up a massive blast of water.

"Piiiip...LUP!" he cried as he fired it towards Electivire, who simply raised his hands to block it. Dawn's face turned to one of shock. Max's, however, was one of disappointment.

Paul, on the other hand, just looked bored. "Electivire, Thunder!" he commanded, and Electivire began charging up a massive blast of power between his antenna.

"Elec-ti-VIRE!" he shouted as he fired it towards the Penguin Pokémon, who was now more than slightly worried.

"Use Bide, Piplup!" Dawn commanded desperately, hoping it wasn't too late.

Max's eyes opened wide when he realized her plan. And how horribly it would backfire.

But Piplup did as he was commanded, bracing himself and began to glow white, absorbing the energy from the full power Thunder attack.

'_Come on, Piplup, please hold on,'_ she silently thought to herself.

But, lo and behold, when the attack finally cleared, all that could be seen was a blinding white light, before he flew straight towards Electivire.

"Protect!" Paul shouted, and instantly Electivire reacted, throwing his hands out in front of him, creating a green bubble around him to block the results of Bide. The explosion from contact shook the battlefield, and when the dust cleared, Electivire stood, still unscratched, while Piplup was breathing raggedly, looking as if he was barely clinging to consciousness.

"Finish this. Use Thunder on the battlefield," Paul called.

Electivire then bent forward, jabbing both his tails into the ground. With a great roar, he began launching a massive amount of energy into the ground.

'_What's he doing? Doesn't he know that would just ground itself out?' _ she thought before realizing Paul's plan. Entire sections of the battlefield began flying towards the Penguin Pokémon, ready to outright crush it.

Dawn had one possible option, and she knew it. "Piplup! Counter Shield!"

Paul, Conway and Max were all confused by this command, but Dawn simply put all her trust in Piplup.

'_We're not going to give up. We can't let him have the satisfaction!'_

Just as practiced, Piplup began spinning and firing BubbleBeam, destroying the rocks and chunks of ground that flew towards him. But, like always, the rotations became too much, especially after such a long, hard battle. Piplup lost his balance and was battered by the remaining chunks of battlefield, eventually falling to the ground with spirals in his eyes.

"Piplup is down! Electivire is the winner!" Conway called out, with a smug smile.

Paul simply shook his head. "What a waste of my time. Come back when you finally realize that Tacticians are just glorified performers," he stated coldly as he and Electivire began walking away.

Conways, too, left with a smirk, carrying his Duskull after his friend.

Dawn walked over to the still limp form of Piplup, sinking to her knees. The sun had since set, and the night air was getting colder. Max watched as she picked Piplup up and hugged him.

"I'm so, soooo sorry, Piplup…" she stated sadly, her voice beginning to crack. "I let you down," she whispered.

Max wasn't sure what made him do what he did next, but be got up, walked over to the girl, who now appeared to be crying, set down his backpack, and pulled out a small potion he bought earlier, handing it to her. "Here. This should help," he told her quietly.

She turned and stared at him, then the potion, then back to him. "Why are you still here?" she asked angrily. "Why aren't you happy that I blew it and proved that Tacticians are useless?"

Max just sighed. "I don't know. I thought I'd be happy, too. But that… That was nothing short of cruel," he said, trying to think of how to react.

Dawn just continued crying, her head resting on Piplup's.

"Listen, Dawn, you did pretty well," he tried, but she cut him off.

"No, I didn't… I got crushed, h-he didn't even try," she stuttered out. "He's right, we couldn't e-even get C-counter Shield to work."

The girl's sobs suddenly stopped, not by choice, but out of shock. Turning her head, she saw Max was hugging her.

"Wh-what are you…" she stuttered, to which he responded.

"Whenever May was feeling down and started to cry, I'd hug her," the boy explained.

When Dawn didn't pull away or shout at him, he just continued to hug her. Eventually, her crying subsided, and her breathing became more normal.

"Thank you…" she whispered as she pulled out and took the potion he had offered, giving it to Piplup.

"So, your Counter Shield…" Max started.

"Don't tell me, I know, it's a stupid idea," Dawn blurted, cutting him off.

"No, not at all!" he told her. "I was actually wondering if you could help Kirlia and I to use it," he told her.

She only stared back, not believing it. "You're just saying that to make me feel better. Besides, you saw it. It failed, just like always. Piplup always get's too dizzy to complete it and it ends up just like you saw," she told him.

"Well, what if Kirlia and I help you guys with your endurance?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh right, like you'd do that…"

"I don't see why not. It'd help us both. And the stronger you get, the better chance you'll have to beat Paul when you see him next," he told her encouragingly.

She thought for a moment, before sighing. "Alright. What have I got to lose at this point…"

Max chuckled lightly. "That's the spirit, kind of. Come on, let's get to the castle. We can start training tomorrow," he told her as he helped her up.

* * *

Several minutes later, they had arrived at the Palace, and were shown to their rooms. The other teens had arrived earlier and were shown to their rooms, so it was just Dawn holding her sleeping Piplup and Max walking with Kirlia.

"So, we can begin training tomorrow, alright?" Max asked, to which she nodded, before realizing something.

"Max, you _leave_ tomorrow," she said, looking crestfallen.

Max mentally kicked himself for forgetting but made a decision that he'd likely regret later. "I'll just say I got lost. I can always pick up the shipment after we help the Aura Guardians, after all."

"You'd do that?" she asked, almost not believing her ears.

"Technically, I'm just along to help May. But I can leave on my own at any time, so I figure, 'why not stay a bit longer,'," he replied with a grin.

Dawn beamed at him. "Thank you," she told him quietly. "For everything."

Max was about to answer when Dawn leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which now felt as if they were holding lava in them. His eyes grew wide, jaw hung open, and he just stood there, stunned.

Dawn giggled and went to her door, turning back to say "Good night," before sealing herself in the room, still giggling lightly at the image in her head.

On the other side of the door, however, Max stood there as the minutes ticked by, his brain trying to process what had just happened.

'_Did Dawn just… kiss me?'_

* * *

_So, hopefully you all enjoyed that. If not, feel free to post where you think I screwed up, considering I wrote this entire thing today. Next chapter will likely show the other couple's evenings, so I'm not skipping them, I just thought that 5,000+ words was enough for one night. And as you can see, the Rivals have arrived! More to come in the future, as always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy and God Bless!_


	12. What have I got to lose?

_Evening all. Sorry for the wait, was pretty busy the last week and a half from stress, getting sick, ect. Anyways, finally fought off the writers block and figured out how I wanted to write this chapter to a point where I'm happy with it. As always, Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, the characters, the setting, ect._

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

"So May, what sort of supplies do you and Max need for your trip?" Ash asked as he and May, along with Pikachu and May's Swablu Bubbles walked through the bustling marketplace that made up most of Jubilife City's plaza. May also noticed a slightly sad tone to his question, barely there but audible.

"Well…" she started, tapping her chin in thought. "Food, for one thing. Probably a map too, considering we don't know the area that well…" she said. "Is there anything I should know about Bubbles, before Max and I leave Jubilife City? You know, like food, caring, that sort of stuff?" she asked as they browsed several of the stalls, just as they did in Pewter City a week ago.

The Pokémon in question was currently sitting happily on her trainers head, like a large, fluffy hat, living up to it's species' reputation.

"Uh, Gary would probably know more, but most berries should be fine. Once you figure out her favorite flavor, just stock up when you can and go from there," the raven-haired teen advised her as he and Pikachu glanced around at the amazing Pokémon, people, and wares of West Sinnoh.

The brunette nodded, looking for a booth offering berries. As the two teens continued searching, Ash decided to try to make some conversation, remembering his conversation with the other boys earlier.

"I see you're wearing the bandana I got for you," he started, attempting to keep his face the same shade of tan that it always is. It was a lot harder than he expected.

"Yeah, I, uh, just kinda felt like wearing it today. You know, new region, new bandana," she explained nervously. "I still can't believe you spent seven silver on it, though."

"Actually…" he said, suddenly looking nervous as well.

Gary's words at Cinnabar suddenly came back to him. '_I mean, you did spend three silver on it. And just a piece of advice, I'd leave that bit out and say you spent the seven on it, but that's me.'_

While he did want to impress May, he also felt that lying wouldn't be a good idea, especially growing up with his mom instilling honestly in him the way she did. Sure, he lied earlier about the gift, saying it was for Dawn, but that was mostly so it would be a surprise for May.

Max's words then decided to add their opinion from his memory. '_Drew LaRousse. Apparently his family have been nobles of LaRousse City in Hoenn for generations, and he doesn't ever let you forget it. He was always giving May roses whenever he'd show up.'_

'_How can I compete with that?' _he thought sullenly. '_He's a noble, with a fortune, he gives her flowers, he probably doesn't lock up and turn red at the thought of -_gulp- _romantic things. I'm just some dense Guardian from Rota, my Mom technically just works at the Palace, and I only have a small salary as a Trainee.'_

After a short inner battle with himself over whether or not to tell her, which confused May slightly, he finally responded.

"Actually, I only paid three silver for it," he confessed, looking slightly ashamed. "After you left, I asked the man if I could get a discount, and with a little help from Gary, he told me since I was an Aura Guardian, and technically saved your life earlier that day, that I could have it for only three silver. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," he told her, hanging his head.

The brunette blinked. '_What just happened?'_ she thought to herself, quickly wondering how to handle the now apologetic and ashamed boy in front of her.

"Ash, it's not the price of the gift," she told the boy, causing him to look up cautiously. "It's the thought that counts. I know it sounds cliche…" she said, feeling her face warm slightly, "But, because it's from you, I wouldn't trade it for all the gold or silver in Hoenn."

His trademark grin finally reappeared, though she was sure his cheeks were slightly red when it did.. "You really like it that much?" he asked, sounding a bit more confident than before.

The brunette nodded, smiling. "It's actually helped with my nightmares since you gave it to me, believe it or not. That's another reason I wouldn't give it away. Plus it matches Bubbles' color so well!" she exclaimed, reaching up to ruffle one of the Swablu's wings, much to the Cotton Bird Pokémon's delight.

"Your eyes, too."

May blinked again and looked at the raven-haired teen, who now looked mortified.

"Uh… I didn't mean to say that out loud," he stuttered out, his cheeks as red as Pikachu's.

But, to his surprise, the brunette smiled, her own cheeks taking on a pink coloration. "Uh… thanks. It's sweet of you to say so," she told him, awkwardly taking the compliment.

An awkward silence came over the two for a moment, before Ash finally put his grin back on. "Come on, let's go find some berries for Bubbles," he told her, to which she grinned and nodded.

"Sounds good."

* * *

"At least after tomorrow, we'll only have to feed one Snorlax-sized appetite," Gary commented as he paid for the small mountain of food and ingredients for the party, while Misty helped pack them into their travel bags.

"You mean when May and Max leave?" she asked curiously, to which he nodded.

"It's not that I don't want them to stay, but keeping Ashy-boy fed is a full time job in itself. May… I've never seen a girl who could keep up with the human Snorlax in terms of meals. If I didn't think you'd snap me in half like a twig, I'd ask her how she stays so dang thin," he replied, shoving food into his pack.

He failed to notice the slightly hurt expression on the redhead's face from his comment.

'_That's all I am to him, isn't it? Just a bully who can't control her own stupid teenaged emotions and hormones like a normal person,'_ she thought sadly to herself.

"So, you ready to head to the Palace?" Gary asked as they left the shop, glancing at her. But when he noticed her sad expression and the fact that she wasn't listening, she became slightly worried. "Hey, Red, you okay?"

Blinking at the nickname, Misty looked up. "Huh? What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to head back to the Palace. You alright, Misty?" Gary replied.

"Yup, right as rain," she lied, forcing a smile on her face. The difference between Ash and Gary, unfortunately for her, was Gary was significantly brighter and more observant than Ash.

"Rapidash dung," he told her flatly, which slightly caught her off guard. "Come on, Mist, what's wrong? What's got you so down, all of a sudden?"

Misty sighed. "Can't we just go back to the castle? I'm tired," she whined, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

Gary and Umbreon, however, weren't moving. "Come on, seriously, what's wrong?"

Sighing again, she glared at the brunette before relenting, gesturing to a nearby bench in the park they were passing. As the three sat down, with Umbreon hopping up next to Gary, Misty just put her head in her hands, thinking.

'_He's going to think I'm crazy for even bringing this up. That's just what I need… I really don't want to screw this up. Come on, Misty, calm your nerves. You can do this.'_

Finally, after a minute, she looked back, to see him patiently looking at her, idly petting Umbreon.

"Gary… I want to," she started, looking for the words. "I want to apologize," she told him, the final word coming out as if it were painful. "In the past, I've… had a tendency to solve my problems by… well, by hurting you, normally," she told him. "It wasn't fair to you, and I'm annoyed at myself for doing it. If… if you want to… -_talk_- to other girls, I'll… I'll understand, and try not to cause you any more problems."

Gary's mouth was hanging open slightly, and he looked at Misty as if she had just turned into a Chansey. Misty suddenly found herself extremely self-conscious of herself, and it annoyed her.

"Would you say something and stop looking at me like I'm some sort of freak?!" she shouted, snapping the boy out of his stupor.

"I'm sorry, I just… I was not expecting that," he told her. "I guess I should apologize too."

'_Did I just hear that right?' _she thought to herself. '_The great Gary Oak, apologizing? He's not going to go on some egotistical rant?'_

"I should have realized that my flirting with other girls was, well, infuriating to you. I guess I just… I guess I figured you'd always have your little crush on Ash, so I never gave it much thought."

"You knew about that?" she asked him, suddenly worried.

Gary smirked. "Everyone but Ashy-boy realized it, Mist," he told her with a light chuckle. "Whenever you would come to visit, until maybe two, three years ago, you followed him around like a lovesick Poochyena. I guess I figured you'd be stubborn enough to follow him to the end of days. I never figured you'd actually give up at something. You always were the most stubborn and determined person I knew."

While her face was nearly the same color as her hair by this point, Misty was fairly proud of herself for coming this far without bolting. Gary had just complimented her stubbornness and determination, after all. But the next sentence definitely threw her for a loop.

"But I suppose it was only natural that after you stopped pining for Ash that you'd be interesting in yours truly." She didn't even have to look to know that signature, infuriatingly egotistical, _cute_ smirk that he always wore was on his face.

"That's not- I never said- ARGH! Oak, you are so, so, -INFURIATING- at times!" she shouted, but he only chuckled, further deepening the crimson hue her face had taken.

Misty sighed into her hands, trying to cover the fact that her face and hair matched.

'_Arceus, I knew bringing this up would only make things worse. Now that egotistical pain in the neck actually thinks I -_like- _him! Granted… I do, but still! I'll never hear the end of it! Why did I listen to Dawn?'_

As she sat there, silently hoping that the ground would suddenly swallow her up, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Gary's. She froze.

"Mist… Hypothetically speaking, of course, what would you say if I told you that I felt similarly?"

Surprised, she turned to look back at Gary. He looked slightly nervous. His Umbreon was snickering at him from his spot on Gary's right, opposite Misty, much to his annoyance.

Several thoughts quickly went through her mind. '_Hypothetically? Does he not know? Is he just teasing me now? Does he actually really like me and is too nervous to say it? What _would _I say if he told me that? Oh, crap, he's still waiting on an answer, isn't he?'_

To his credit, Gary waited patiently, not pushing her to answer. He tried to block out the snickering from his partner and silently hoped that this was the right move on his part. And Misty had to admit, he did _look_ sincere…

'_This is it, Misty. This is the moment you've been waiting for for three years now,' _she thought to herself.

Gathering up all her courage and taking a deep breath, she asked, "What would I say, hypothetically of course, if you said you liked me?"

Gary nodded, and Misty saw a small sliver of hope in his nervous eyes.

While Gary and Ash thought she was fearless, in actuality, Misty was very insecure. Her sisters were always more pretty, more confident, more… everything, to her. She was the runt of the litter. Combine that with her temper at her own insecurities, and, well, she never thought she'd be in this position. It had taken all her nerves to get this far, and she was determined to not back down now.

"I think, hypothetically of course, I'd have to say…"

Grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt and cloak, she was secretly delighted and emboldened by the look of shock on both his and Umbreon's faces before pulling him in close, before closing her eyes and enjoying her first kiss.

Gary, on the other hand, was attempting to reboot his brain. He was stunned. He was confused. But the one thought that had managed to pierce the thick, confused fog of his brain was that he was currently kissing Misty Waterflower. _AND_ still had all his limbs attached!

'_Am I dreaming? Because I somehow only see this happening in a dream,' _he thought to himself.

When she finally did pull away, she couldn't help but giggle at the blank, stunned expression Gary had on. Even Umbreon's jaw was hanging open in shock.

'_I think I broke him,'_ she thought to herself with a grin.

"So, yeah. That's what I'd say. Hypothetically, of course," she teased him before leaning back against the bench, doing her best to remain optimistic.

After a minute, though, her fears were back in full force. '_Did he not like that?'_ she thought. '_He's still not moving, I expected SOME sort of reaction by now… Was that too forward?'_

As the second ticked by, and her insecurities wreaked havoc on her emotional state, Misty decided to just go find a hole to crawl into, standing to leave. She was stopped, however, by Gary grabbing her wrist. When she looked back, his mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. He still had a glazed look in his eyes, and appeared to be still recovering.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Wa… wait." Coughing slightly, he got his cracking voice under some semblance of control. "Just, sit down for a second, please?" he asked her while he shook his head clear.

Still slightly worried, she complied, sitting back down and began playing with the hem of her shirt. After a minute, Gary finally looked like he was back fully, if in a very serious mood.

"Listen, Mist… That… You…" Despite herself, she couldn't help but suppress a giggle or two at the fact that she'd left the brunette boy in his current state. Clearing his throat for the second time, he took a breath and continued. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

Misty felt elated, but decided to have a bit of fun with this. "Hypothetically?" she asked with a smirk.

She was surprised when Gary simply wrapped his hand around hers and shook his head. "I'll leave the hypotheticals and theoreticals to grandpa for now. On this topic, I'm fairly certain that I like you, nothing hypothetically about it, and I'd be an idiot to just let you walk away after that."

* * *

Ash, Pikachu, May and Bubbles had since returned to the palace, with the sun having set a bit ago. Seeing as they were the first of the teens to arrive back, Ash decided to hang out with May until Max got back with the others. After leaving the bags of their supplies at her room, they ended up sitting out on the balcony that May and Max's room afforded them, just enjoying the night air with their Pokémon.

"But yeah, Max and I will probably leave fairly early tomorrow and head north. With any luck, we'll reach Eterna City in a few days, and be heading back to Hoenn by week's end. It'll be good to be home," the brunette said as she idly ruffled Bubbles' cottony wings. "Don't get me wrong, Kanto, Rota, and Sinnoh are great, if too dang cold at times… I just miss Hoenn."

"What's Hoenn like, anyways?" Ash asked.

"It's a lot warmer, but not oppressively so. It's more tropical than the other major regions, baring Unova. Dad and grandpa don't like doing business with the Unovans after the war. Beyond that, it's… beautiful," she told him with a reminiscent smile.

"Great ocean views, awesome cities and people. It's nice to travel, but I always love coming home. My mom always cooks up a huge meal for me, and I get to relax for a few days before moving onto my next delivery. Though, honestly I'm thinking about giving up my courier jobs after the Eterna City run," she finished.

"Really? Planning to become a full time trainer?" Ash asked as he pet the currently sleeping Pikachu in his lap.

"Now that I'm taking care of Bubbles full time, yeah, I was thinking about taking a break from work and learning to be a trainer for real," she replied contently.

Ash nodded absently, something else on his mind. After a moment, he decided to voice it. "So, I take it you'll be staying in Hoenn after you leave Sinnoh?"

"Well, I do have to go home to deliver the shipment, but after that, I was thinking of traveling to see someone," she replied vaguely, worrying Ash.

"Anyone I know?" he asked.

"Sort of," she replied with a slightly mischievous grin. She was about to elaborate when the door opened and a thoroughly dazed Max walked in, Kirlia by his side.

"Max? You alright?" May called to her brother, who seemed to finally notice her and Ash in the room.

"Oh, hey guys," he told them as he walked up.

"You alright there, Max?" Ash asked. He'd never seen the normally studious teen so… so… zombie-like. '_Must be tired from the day,'_ he thought to himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think I'm going crazy. This certainly feels like I'm going insane. Yeah, that's it. Gotta be going insane," Max droned, still looking dazed.

Ash shot a glance at May, who looked puzzled and slightly worried.

"Uh… Max?" she asked. "What happened, exactly?"

"After you two left, Gary and Misty went to get supplies. Dawn made me stay with her, and had me show her where we were training before, Ash," the blue-haired boy told them. "When we got there, though, the two guys we ran into earlier were there. Dawn got into a fight with the purple-haired one, then a full blown Pokémon battle. She… well, she lost, rather badly."

"Aww… She must be feeling really bad after that," May said, wondering if she should go cheer the blunette up.

"Actually… I think she's feeling better. Either that or my perception of reality is beginning to decline," Max told them, finally beginning to sound more like his normal self. "After the battle, I helped her with Piplup and tried to cheer her up. Apparently… I must have done something right."

"Why's that?" May asked, growing more curious at what had unhinged her little brother.

"After I walked her back to her room for the night… assuming the events I appear to have lived through are in fact true and not a hallucination or walking dream of some sort, she kissed me on the cheek," he told them, rubbing one of his cheeks absently.

Both boys, and their Pokémon were caught off guard by the sudden squealing coming from May. "My little brother's growing up!" she shouted, before pulling him into a hug, much to his surprise.

"May… Choking, not… breathing… blacking out…" he mumbled as the brunette's chokehold of a hug slowly was depriving him of much needed air.

Finally releasing him, May began jittering in her seat from excitement. "I'm so happy for you! I knew you two would make great friends if you overcame your differences!" she gushed.

"Actually…" he said as he caught his breath. "Actually, I still think my way is correct. It's just… The trainer she fought against, Paul, he thinks strength is all that matters in battle, too. But his methods… he treats his Pokémon like tools. He crushed Dawn with raw power, basically what I was planning to do. But, afterwards, he insulted her, called her and Piplup pathetic," he confessed.

"So, I just tried to help her. I hugged her like I did for you whenever you were feeling down when we were younger. Gave Piplup a potion I had bought earlier. Walked her back to her room. And then it just sort of… happened. A quick peck on the cheek and she shut the door," he finished, still looking distant.

"It sounds to me like you made an impression on her, Max," May told him with a smile. She was proud of her brother. He helped Dawn when she was down. He didn't rub in the fact that she lost to someone who put power before tactics.

Ash, for the most part, just continued petting Pikachu, choosing to stay out of the conversation for the time being. He barely understood this mushy stuff to begin with, so a kiss on the cheek didn't sound all that big a deal to him. His mom used to do it all the time, after all! Still, May was happy, and so was he.

"I'll talk to her about it tomorrow. Also, May… I was wondering if we should stay with Ash, Gary, and Riley while they help out Dawn and her people," he told her, slightly nervously. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay and help. Besides, we could always say we got lost on the way. A week or two won't be _that_ big a deal to Grandpa, right?"

May grinned. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt too much if we were a bit late. I can send a letter saying we got delayed and we should be fine. I mean, how do you think we got to spend a week in Olivine Town in Johto last year?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

"You didn't…" Max stated in disbelief.

The brunette only nodded. "I told dad that the lighthouse was having problems, and that boats couldn't enter or leave for a week. We'll head back after we help deal with Galactic," she told them.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you, then. I'm going to get some sleep. Night you two," he told them as he and Kirlia headed towards their room, leaving May and Ash on the balcony again.

May turned to a still slightly confused Ash. "Isn't it so adorable?" she asked.

"Isn't what adorable?" he asked, causing both May and Pikachu to facepalm at the raven-haired teen.

When she saw the clueless expression on his face, however, her expression dropped a bit. '_That's right, Misty said he was pretty dense, but come on! Even he should be able to understand this!'_ she thought to herself annoyed.

"Pikapi, pikachu pi chu pika," his partner told him, but his clueless expression remained.

"So, where were we?" May asked with a sigh, deciding to change the subject for the time being.

"You were saying how you were planning to take a trip to visit someone when all this was over, but you never said who," he replied.

"Oh yeah, it's a secret!" she told him cheerfully, causing him to force a smile in return, when all he thought about were her many suitors back in Hoenn.

* * *

As Gary and Misty walked hand in hand back to the palace, they both thought about the evening. Having confessed to each other in the park, they decided to give it a shot, regardless of how the rest of the party felt. Not that they expected them to object, of course.

Still, Misty was hard pressed to think of a time where she felt more content and safe, now that she and Gary were together. Sure, she still thought he was an egomaniacal show off, but he was _her _egomaniacal show off.

Likewise, Gary was quite happy with the turn of events. Not only was he now safe from being smacked, slammed, or hurled by Misty, short of screwing something up royally, but he was happy. One of his best friends was now his girlfriend, and he had beaten Ash in something. Something that mattered for a change.

Umbreon had taken it in stride. He knew Gary and Misty were friends, ever since she would visit when he had first joined Gary as his partner. Now, eight years later, she was his partner's mate, and nothing would take either of them from him.

"So, enjoyed tonight, I hope?" the brunette asked as they headed towards the palace gates.

Smiling, Misty nodded her head. "It's nice not having all that stress anymore. Now, we just need to work on getting Ash and May together," she told him, to which he raised an eyebrow.

"Her too? So Ashy-boy isn't the only one with a crush, there?" he asked with an amused smirk.

"Nope. While we were shopping earlier, Dawn cornered us and basically started interrogating us about you and Ash. It was decided that I would talk to you if she talked with Ash. So, hopefully, things are going well for them," she told him.

"Ash is head over heels, even if he doesn't know it yet. Heck, Max even offered to finish her delivery so she could stay, if things worked out," he told her. "Just let it run it's course. Ash is dense, but he's not a complete idiot. When he does finally figure it out, we'll probably know about it," he assured her.

As the two trainers entered the palace proper, having been let in by the guards, they were stopped by Riley, with Lucario close behind.

"Evening you two. Enjoying Jubilife City, I hope?" he asked them with a smile, to which they both nodded. "Good. Gary, you're bunking with Ash tonight. Misty, you're with Dawn. Get some sleep, we've got a big day tomorrow."

"Got it, boss," Gary told him as they headed to find a guide.

"Oh, and please inform them both that we'll be meeting with the Veilstone Resistance leaders tomorrow, Paul and Reggie, before we leave."

* * *

As Gary opened the door to his room, he found it was dark.

'_Ash must still be out,'_ he decided. Heading in, he lit one of the lamps in the room and began preparing for bed with Umbreon. Just as he was laying down, however, the door opened again, revealing his raven-haired roommate and Pikachu.

"Evening Ashy-boy. Had fun supply hunting with May?" Gary asked with a wink, to which Ash nodded.

"Yeah, things went well, but I never got a chance to ask her about… you know… what we talked about earlier with Max," he revealed with a sigh as he sat down on his bed, pulling his boots off. "On a lighter note, they want to stick with us, at least until the Galactic situation is over," he continued, his tone turning somewhat positive.

"Well, at least you've got some more time," Gary encouraged. '_Should I tell him about Misty and I? Eh, nah. He's got enough on his mind for now,'_ he decided.

"Oh, your brother had a message for you. We're meeting with the Veilstone Resistance tomorrow for something, probably strategies," the brunette informed him. "Think he said their names were Reggie and Paul."

Ash froze midway through pulling off his second boot and stared at Gary. "Did you say 'Paul'?" he asked, to which Gary nodded.

"Something wrong, Ashy-boy?" he asked.

"Uh…"

"WHAT! PAUL!?"

Both teens winced as they heard a certain blunette in a nearby room scream the name in disbelief.

"I think Misty told Dawn that we'd be meeting with them tomorrow…" Gary said quietly.

Ash sighed. "It's going to be a looooong day," he said as he laid back on his bed, one boot still on.

* * *

"Dawn, please calm down," Misty tried, but the restless blunette continued to pace the room.

"Calm down? You weren't there when he crushed Piplup and I, Misty. He's rude, his ego tops even Gary's, he's cruel, and he called Piplup and I pathetic!" she whined as she continued to pace. "Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare…"

"Don't worry, Dawn, we'll all be there. If he tried to insult you again, I'll personally clock him," Misty promised, which slightly raised her spirits.

"Alright, I suppose you're right. I'll behave…" she told Misty, smirking. "Funny, when you think about it. My mentor was worrying about you starting an incident, and yet here I am wanting to rip him apart," the blunette told her, to which Misty giggled.

"Ah well, so, how'd things go with Gary?" Dawn asked, quickly shifting gears, much to the surprise of Misty.

'_This girl really needs a boyfriend...'_ Misty thought to herself, again annoyed that the blunette had decided to meddle in her private life. Still, given how tonight turned out due to the blunette's meddling in the first place, she figured she owed Dawn that much.

"Things went well. Turns out you and May were right. He does like me," she told her with a content, of goofy grin.

Dawn squealed at the news and hugged the redhead. "That's awesome! I knew you two would make a great couple! Can I be the godmother?" she asked, causing Misty to redden.

"Uh, Dawn? We decided that we'd give it a shot. Not when we're getting married and what to name the children. Could you not start planning our future out quite yet?" Misty asked, still desperately in the crushing hug of the blunette.

Giggling, she released her roommate. "You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. Still, I'm happy for you. I just hope May and Ash also had luck," she said as she settled down under her covers, hugging her loyal Piplup against her.

'_He did so well against Paul, tonight. I think I'll get up early and see about getting him some Poffins,' _she thought to herself.

"Night Misty," she called out as Misty turned out the oil lamp that was currently lighting their room.

"Night Dawn… And thanks."

* * *

_Done. Hopefully people enjoyed that, I may come back at some point and rewrite it. Not sure if I'm perfectly happy with it. Anyways, feedback and suggestions are encouraged, pleasant evening and God bless!_


End file.
